A Time for the Bell to Toll
by Ytak
Summary: [COMPLETE] Is there only one truth? Events can have more than one interpretation, which can all be true. When a striking event occurs to Conan what will happen to him and those around him? (Spoilers in later chapters. Based off of Jap. manga)
1. File 0: A Time

File 0:  Time

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There is an appointed time for everything,  
            a time for every matter under the heavens.

A time to be born, and a time to die;  
           a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.

A time to kill, and a time to heal;  
            a time to tear down, and a time to build.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;  
            a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;  
            a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.

A time to seek, and a time to lose;  
           a time to keep, and a time to cast away.

A time to rend, and a time to sew;  
            a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

A time to love, and a time to hate;  
            a time of war, and a time of peace.

            -Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

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            I have the basic plot for each chapter outlined and more than half the chapters written.  I will post about once a week.

            Constructive criticism is appreciated and wanted but don't flame.  Flaming doesn't accomplish anything except to make the writer mad, in this case, me.

This is the only time I am going to say this for the whole story but:

            **Disclaimer:  Detective Conan belongs to Gōshō Aoyama.**

Posted 5-19-04


	2. File 1: Preparing to Ring the Bell

File 1: Preparing to Ring the Bell

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_Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him._

_            -_Meditation 17 by John Donne__

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            A man in a black hat and trench coat sat in a parked car.  He was observing the police in front of a hotel with a cold, trained eye.  But, more so than the police, he was watching a sleeping man with a mustache.  The sleeping man was explaining how the crime was committed.  How this was done confused the man in black slightly but he shrugged his confusion off.  After all, he was watching to make a proper assessment. 

            He watched the young charge of the man helping out by demonstrating how the crime was committed.  As that man had become more famous the cases he began getting were coming closer and closer to coming up against the _truth_. 

            He's becoming closer to learning of our involvement, thought the man, that makes him dangerous.

            **ring**** ring**

            The man in black answered his cell phone.

            "Chardonnay here," he said, "yes, he is getting closer; it is my recommendation that we send a 'message' to him."

            There was a long pause as the man's superior considered the suggestion.  He gave an answer.

            "You are going to ask someone higher up for approval?"

            He was greeted with an affirmative and with the assurance that the decision should not take too long. 

            When asked a question by his superior he answered, "Yes, sir, I have formulated many possible plans.  The one that appeals to me the most involves using that child currently in holding."

            A deep-throated chuckle issued from the other end of the line.  His superior knew the sorts of plans his subordinate was capable of and, even more importantly, that he had executed all before flawlessly and perfectly.  Those kinds of results were becoming rarer in the organization that was becoming more tolerant of failure that, had in the past, been in intolerant of.

            "You'll inform me once a decision is made?  Excellent," he said, and then he hung up.

            The man lay back against the seat.  Disinterestedly he returned to the observation he had been doing before his phone rang.  He had observed, out of the corner of his eye, the crime scene being broken up while on the phone.  Now all he was doing was watching those insects, the press, swarm around their light bulb, the subject in observation. 

            Like moths fluttering around a light bulb.  They are attracted to the brightness.  Only the light disorients them from the _real_ happenings in the world, he thought nastily.

            **ring**** ring ****ri****--******

            "Do I have approval?" he asked knowing that his superior was the only person that would be calling him right now.

            After he received his answer, he hung up the phone, his lips forming a nasty smile.

            He _will_ learn with this lesson or he will learn permanently, he reflected coldly.

            People walking by, who noticed the man sitting in the car, were left feeling cold and afraid after which they would hurry on their way.  All were left trying to forget the chilling, deadly smile formed by his thin lips, a smile that promised to make your worst nightmare come true.

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            Constructive criticism is wanted and appreciated.  (Hint hint: review)


	3. File 2: For Whom the Bell Tolls?

File 2:  For Whom the Bell Tolls?

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Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, Morieris.

Now this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.

            -_Meditation 17_, John Donne   

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            Conan dragged his feet as Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi ran and skipped along ahead of him.

            Why do I have to go to the park again? he thought.  Oh, wait, I know why.  I just _had_ to tell them about this park a couple of weeks back and now we _have_ to go there a couple of times a week.  I could just _kick_ myself.  I'm a detective.  I should have figured out what would happen when I told then about that park.

            "What's with the long face Conan-kun?" chirped Ayumi leaning forward looking directly into Conan's face.

            Conan jumped back startled.  He had not noticed that the Detective Boys had stopped and were looking right at him.

             "You know it'll freeze that way if you keep making it?or that's what mommy keeps telling me?" said Ayumi looking thoughtful.

            "Yeah, Conan-kun, Ayumi's right.  Unless of course you want to walk around like that for the rest of your life," said Genta.

            Mitsuhiko pointed across the bridge on the way to the park, "Look!  The ice cream truck is entering the park.  It'll only be there for about ten minutes, so stop yakking.  Let's go!"

            The Detective Boys turned as one and began a quick trot to cross the bridge quickly and in order to make it to the park in time.

-----------------

            Akira Watanabe stood next to the building like he had for the past three days.  He wore the look of a man who had lost all hope for himself and only wanted the anguish and desperation he was feeling to go away.

            Keiko, my dear little Keiko, don't worry daddy is going to make sure that you are going to be okay, Watanabe reflected.  I'll pay for my sins but why does my little Keiko have to pay for them, too? 

            Looking up suddenly, seeing someone only familiar through the photograph he held in his hand.

            Ah!  There he is!  He is so short that I nearly missed him, he thought.

            Watanabe moved quickly from the spot he had occupied every afternoon for the past three days and followed like he was supposed to, almost having to resort to jogging to catch up. 

-----------------

            Conan was listening to the Detective Boys chatter on about another possible haunted house they could visit.  The last one they had went to had been a bust. 

            Yeah, I wonder why? thought Conan sarcastically, after all it is only _my_ house.

            As he began to cross the bridge he noted that the river was swollen more than usual due to the recent rains and that it was moving very swiftly.

            I wouldn't want to fall in there.  I'd probably get swept all the way out to sea, he thought with a sardonic grin lighting his youthful face.

            He felt a presence behind him and then heard a voice say, "Excuse me, but do you happen to have the time?"

            Conan stopped and turned around to face a man who looked like he was on the last straw and about to snap. 

            I wonder why he is so badly off? thought Conan.  He looked closer at the man and saw that he had a watch on.  How curious, he has a watch on; perhaps it is broken.

            Putting the cute kid face he said, "I sure do, mister.  But what is wrong with your watch?"

            The man looked down at his wrist as if he had forgotten that he had a watch.  He looked panicked for a second and then said, "It's broken."

            "Okay, mister," said Conan and he looked down at his wrist watch, "its 3:37."

            Conan blinked and looked up as he felt the man step closer to him and saw him bend down.  The man grabbed the front of his shirt with a firm grip.

            "Whaaa?!" said Conan eyes widening in surprise at the action.

            "Forgive me, child, but what I am about to do is nothing personal.  If I don't they will kill her," said Watanabe quietly, lifting Conan on to the railing's edge.

            "Hey!!" yelled Genta, "What are you doing with Conan-kun?"

            The Detective Boys had gone ahead but stopped when they noticed Conan was not following them.

            Mitsuhiko yelled, "Hey!  Leave Conan-kun alone!"

            "Yeah!  What do you think you're doing?" said Ayumi, placing her hands on her hips and putting her two-cents in.

            The man continued, having completely tuned out the world around him heard nothing now that the end of his suffering was near, much less the Detective Boys yelling at him.

            The man, Watanabe, still holding on the front of Conan's shirt, pulled out a pistol from inside his jacket.  He placed the pistol to Conan's chest and fired.

            **BANG!!**

            Conan's body jerked from the foreign object passing through his left lung a few inches above the heart and exiting out of his back.

            "CONAN-KUN!" yelled the Detective Boys as one and began to run to their friend. 

            Before anyone could react, and paying no heed to his fingers burnt by how close they had been to the gunshot, Watanabe threw Conan over the bridge into the rain swollen river.  He did not even pause to watch Conan's body be swept rapidly downstream before he sprinted away, dropping the pistol in the process.

            He made it not more than a few yards from where he had shot Conan before another shot rang out.  The  shot was the sound of a high powered rifle going off at a distance.

            **CRACK!!**

            Akira Watanabe's head, immediately following the sound, showered an eruption of blood from the back of his skull as the bullet went through his head.  His body fell to the ground with a dull thud.  Blood began pooling around his head though in a little while it stopped because the heart was no longer pumping blood through the body.

            Screaming and yelling were occurring all around.  The police arrived shortly to the gruesome scene.  They were baffled as to what happened.  One level headed person told what he had witnessed.

            "Officer, I don't know if that boy is still alive but you need to look for him," he said.  "Think of his family."

            A few of the traffic officers, the first police on the scene, were trying to comfort the young protégés of Conan.  But to no avail.  The Detective Boys were crying and wanting to know about Conan. 

            Searchers were immediately sent along the river banks looking for Conan and patrol units further down the river were advised to look for him in hopes they might see him further downstream.  However, the search was not proceeding well because the swollen river was hampering search efforts.

            One pessimistic officer told Inspector Megure, who also had come to assist in the search, that, "I don't think we are going to find that kid dead or alive, Sir"

            Megure leveled a glare at the officer.  "We are going to keep searching.  An absence does not mean he's dead." 

            The other officer shook his head as Megure turned away.  I almost wish I could blind myself to what has happened, he thought.  I may have only met the kid in passing but I still like him.

            Days of searching for Conan's body proved fruitless.

            Conan's body could not be found. 

            He was gone.

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            Unfortunately, Watanabe-san belongs to me.  Poor guy, I feel somewhat sorry for him.

Posted:  5-26-04


	4. File 3: Listening

File 3: Listening

* * *

Tough times never last, but tough people do!

-Robert Schuller

I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think its hell.

-Harry S. Truman

* * *

Ran gave another heaving sob as her father held his only child close trying to provide comfort. But he was having difficultly himself. He had grown rather attached to the little brat. And to have him die, no, be murdered in such a fashion was almost unfathomable.

"I'm sorry," said Megure sadly, "but witnesses say that it looked like he had be shot very close to the heart if not actually shot there. And with him being thrown in the river with that kind of wound?"

Megure could almost feel his heart breaking as he watched Ran sob. He could see even her father was suffering. Megure, in the time he had known Conan, had really begun to think of him as an extension of the police, for Conan and the Detective Boys were so good at ferreting out trouble and assisting in the capture of criminals. And now, the voice of reason for their little group was gone. Killed by a man and no one knew why.

"An intensive search has been going for his bod-," Megure would have continued but Mouri had waved off the information for the moment.

It's just too much, thought Kogoro, please don't continue with Ran around. It'll only make her sorrow and grief worse.

Megure tried to put a comforting hand on Ran's shoulder but the moment he touched her shoulder she bolted up out of hr father's comforting embrace and out of her seat and ran out of the room, her body shaking from sobbing so hard.

Kogoro looked like he was going to follow her but he could not seem to stand up. He turned to Megure and though he was obviously struggling with many internal demons he said, "I'm sorry for interrupting you earlier. Continue, please, Inspector Megure."

Megure had to backtrack to remember what he had been telling Mouri-san. It was always easier for him to break bad news on the first go with a family. And this one was so much more difficult because of his close ties with them.

"Uh, where was I?" he asked himself because he had lost track of his line of thought. "Ah! I remember, we are still searching for Conan-kun's body," he saw Mouri-san wince at that, "and we are also searching for the person, probably a man, who sniped the Watanabe-san."

"Who?" asked Kogoro.

"You don't know?" asked Megure a little surprised.

Becoming exasperated, Kogoro replied, "I wouldn't ask if I knew who you, or what, you are talking about."

"Uh, Watanabe-san," said Megure taking a deep breath, "is the man who shot Conan-kun."

"Whaaaaat?! He was shot, too?" exclaimed Kogoro actually jumping out of his seat in surprise.

"Yes, he was shot with some sort of high powered rifle. The shooter of Watanabe was sloppy though; we found some things he left behind. Either that or he was unafraid of us finding anything of importance."

"Hmmmmm," hummed Kogoro contemplating the whole situation. Shock at all the events snapped him out of his shock over Conan's death.

"I sorry Mouri-kun," Megure said interrupting Kogoro's thought, "But I must go and tell Professor Agasa. I believe he is the one I must inform if we are to contact the Edogawa's and tell them what happened," Megure bowed apologetically.

"Ah, do not feel bad," Kogoro replied, "ah, thank you for coming and telling us yourself."

Kogoro had noticed that Megure was looking unhappy at being the bearer of bad news. He also noticed that Megure seemed to hold a small, deeply buried hope that Conan might actually be found, for not once had Megure used the word dead, despite the way he had delivered the bad news.

Kogoro flopped back down onto the chair he had been sitting on earlier.

"Mouri-kun," said Megure breaking the silence that had followed him to the door of the agency and apartment.

"Yeah?"

"If you like, you can the files in a couple of weeks when they have all been organized," offered Megure.

Kogoro looked a little surprised at the offer. He looked at Megure and saw the kindness of someone wanting to help. He nodded his acceptance.

Megure let himself out down the stairs of the agency and Kogoro got up to go and try to offer comfort to Ran.

----------------------

Ran lay on her bed sobbing feeling like a piece of her soul had been ripped out of her body.

Please, God, she prayed, please let all those times I've been shown that Conan is not Shinichi be true. If Conan is Shinichi, I've lost Shinichi. I've lost both!

If they are different then I have lost Conan but Shinichi can return. I can't bear losing both of them forever. GOD! she cried out with all her heart, please don't let that happen! Please!

----------------------

**knock**** knock**

Megure was not surprised at all to see a frazzled Professor Agasa answer the door. And he felt a twinge in his heart at the bad news he was going to have to deliver the eccentric genius that made more things that did not work than did. This man was a relative of Conan-kun and obviously close to him judging by how much time Conan-kun spent at the Professor's.

"May I come in, Professor?" asked Megure.

"Ah, yes, though this isn't the best time," Agasa said.

Megure made the tale short. The professor reacted with the predictable shock. Though he did not seem too sad. Megure was certain the sadness would come after the shock wore off some. Different people reacted differently to the same situation.

"Thank you for telling me," Agasa said sadly, "I'll try to contact Conan-kun's parents immediately. They can be difficult to locate. They wanted a more stable lifestyle for Conan-kun, that's why he was placed with me, originally." After pausing for a moment he switched topics, "And I'll pull Ai-kun aside and try to break the news to her gently."

"Again, I am sorry, I know you two were related," said Megure as Agasa escorted him to the front door and let the Inspector out.

Haibara came from around the corner. She looked shaken but like she had calmed down, a little.

"_They_ are coming after us," she said with rising panic in her voice.

Agasa knelt down in from of Haibara and put a hand on each shoulder.

"You have told me many times what _their_ modus operandi is. This situation strikes me being different than if they were targeting us specifically," he said trying to calm her.

"You may be correct," Haibara said with her voice growing louder, "but I am still going to take precautions."

"Shhh," hushed Agasa, "we mustn't make to much noise."

Haibara looked a little upset that she had disturbed the quite of the house.

"Do you need anymore help?" she asked.

"Ah, no but thank you for asking," Agasa said gathering some more supplies and went upstairs while Haibara went downstairs to continue her research, as always.

* * *

Say hi to me this weekend if you are going to be at A-kon. I'll be dressed up as Kaitou Kid. (Author looks a little embarrassed.) I may even drop a few hints about the upcoming chapters. Fact is I can't shut up about my story. So, you will find stuff out.

It's in my profile but I'll sum it up here, too. For every person that tells me to hurry up with the next chapter I will wait an extra day to post. Sounds harsh? Well, I hate being told to hurry up. It's rude. So, don't do it.

Stupid &%#$%&$ ff.net! It won't let me do certain things. Like do mutiple periods or astericks.

Posted: 6-2-04


	5. File 4: Talk, Conjecture, and Discovery

File 4: Talk, Conjecture and Discovery

* * *

Talk doesn't cook rice.

-Chinese proverb

Our deeds are like stones cast into the pool of time; though they themselves may disappear, their ripples extend to eternity.

-Author unknown

* * *

Takagi walked into the police break room, visibly dragging his feet.

Sato grunted up from her coffee all blurry-eyed with what could be a construed as a greeting when he sat down with his extra black coffee.

Sitting for a few minutes sipping his coffee, Takagi thought about the turn of events a couple of days ago. Pausing for about half a minute, he stared into his coffee cup, unaware of his surroundings as his mind put together the pieces of a puzzle that had been bothering him.

Finally he spoke, "I think it was a message," said Takagi, making Sato jump slightly at the unexpected sound of his voice.

"What?" said Sato giving Takagi a rather blank and bleary-eyed look over a cup of coffee in the break room.

Takagi turned in his seat and looked straight at Sato and said, "I think the?the? murder of Conan-kun was a message to Mouri-san." He looked down sadly when he said Conan's name.

After a long and exhausting evening shift, Sato's brain took a little while to catch up to what he said.

"What do you mean by a 'message'?" snapped Sato. But just as she said that she realized what Takagi was saying. His comment had made the pieces fall into place for her. She had known that she was not the only one on the force severely bothered by what happened.

"Well," said Takagi, taking a breath to prepare, "the Detective Boys said that the man who killed Conan had started following them right before they got to the bridge. What if he had been waiting for them to arrive? After all, they do take that bridge a lot when they go to that park. It is something that can be predicted. Another important point is that witnesses say that they had seen a man a lot like him hanging around the bridge for a couple of days. All these things speak of it being premeditated."

Takagi paused for a moment. Explaining everything that had been running around in his head for a couple of days and putting it into a coherent fashion was tiring. But he had to tell someone, and Sato was his first choice. Not just because they had been partners but because he knew she would listen and understand what he was trying to say even if he couldn't say it correctly.

His instincts were going crazy telling him that this murder was a message to stay out of...whoever's business it was the Mouri-san was getting to close to.

Getting back to his deductions he continued, "And then, the murderer. Someone made extra sure he would not speak to anyone after he did it. Even to the point of shooting him in broad daylight only yards from Conan-kun's murder. Genta-kun said he heard the man say to Conan-kun something like 'nothing personal kid but I have to do this or else they'll kill her.' Genta-kun was probably paraphrasing...but still...the context of that line indicates blackmail or something along those lines."

He stopped talking for a moment; the next comment was spoken more for himself in contemplation than for Sato. "Desperate parents are known to do anything to free a family member, particularly, a child if they are being held under the threat that they will kill the family member if they don't do what they are told."

"That is an interesting theory that supports the evidence we have found, so far," said Shiratori startling both Sato and Takagi. Both had been so into the explanation that they had not noticed Shiratori or the other members of the force come into the break room.

"It agrees with evidence we've located at Watanabe-san's house. Among those items included a journal, which he wrote everything down in," continued Shiratori.

Inspector Megure, who had walked in not long after Takagi began talking to Sato, sat down at the end of the table with a cup of coffee in one hand, "That is true and the gunman who shot Watanabe-san was careless and left some evidence behind. But what I think would be worse was if he didn't care about leaving evidence behind. He dropped a box of pills. Or we at least assume that it was him because the case the pills are in excellent shape despite the recent weather."

Megure paused for a few moments, "I don't know how they'll help with our case but we should have them tested. Unfortunately, the national testing lab will take months to get around to testing them. I have phoned ahead to Professor Agasa. He has assured me that he can do the testing and have it done within the week."

Megure stood up and looked at all of the officers with a sad look in his eye. "This case is very personal to all of us, ladies and gentlemen. Let us not fail Conan-kun and find the person or group responsible," then the impromptu meeting in the Beika police break room ended. Megure went off to deliver the pills to Agasa and the rest of the officers dispersed, each having their own task to complete, all hoping to catch the young and bright boy's true hit man.

Takagi was at his desk thinking, again, about everything. A sad realization hit him. He never would have the assistance of the bright boy again. He would never be able to be around the boy that disarmed a bomb with a cocky grin. He would never get to solve the mystery of Conan's enigmatic words, 'I'll tell you in the afterlife'. Takagi sat, staring at some reports, looking at them as they became blurry in his vision.

Later, no one commented on the occasional smudges on the reports. Takagi's reports were not the only ones like that. Everyone who had known Conan was feeling his death. The impromptu meeting had brought forth the personal feelings of the members. It gave them all renewed vigor in the investigation.

----------------

Agasa sat at his lab desk looking at one of the pills under a microscope as a thin section. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. He had been working on the testing for the past couple of hours and was relieved that Ai would be taking over soon.

Though, switching tasks won't be easy, Agasa thought, but it has been said a change is as good as a rest.

A buzzing sound informed him that the chemical analysis of another one of the pills was done.

Too many more pills to test, Agasa thought with a growing headache. Is it too much to hope that Ai-kun will finish testing them all?

"Professor?" he heard, "I believe it is time we switch."

Haibara walked over to the table to see the tests he had run so far.

"Ah, yes, Ai-kun, I was just thinking that myself," replied the professor.

Turing his head to face Haibara he said, "How are things upst?" his voice trailing off as he got a good look at Haibara.

She was trembling and gripping one of the printouts tightly enough to crinkle the paper to the point that a new printout would have to be made.

"Ai-kun? Ai-kun? Are you alright?" asked Agasa kneeling down on one knee in front of her.

"Pro, Pro, Pro," she tried saying.

Then clearing he throat she looked up at the professor, her normally controlled face covered with shock and hope.

"Professor," she said with a voice strung high with emotion, "this is the Apotoxin."

* * *

Not entirely happy with this file but I had to write it. I may come back and rewrite it sometime.

Posted: 6-9-04 (in the evening)


	6. File 5: Learning to Cope

File 5: Learning to Cope

* * *

The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make a difference that you have lived at all.

-Leo Rosten

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

-Jack Lemmon

* * *

"AAAHHHHHHH!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO! CONAN-KUUUUUUUUUUN!" Ayumi screamed in her sleep as she dreamed of Conan being shot again.

Her mother and father ran into the room to wake her from her nightmare. They woke the crying girl from her disturbed sleep. Her parents pulled Ayumi into a comforting hug.

Her parents looked at each sadly. She had been like this every night since her friend had been killed a couple of days ago. They felt so helpless. They could not just take away the memory of what happened. The only thing they could do was stay by her side and let her know that they loved her. They were even taking off work and letting her stay home from school. They were saddened that there was not much they could do to help their little daughter.

----------------

"Mom, dad? Can I go back to school?" Ayumi asked tentatively.

Her parents looked at each other with surprise. Ayumi was still waking up from nightmares a week later and she would start crying spontaneously many times a day. They knew the nightmares and tears would continue for a while.

"Are you sure?" her mother asked.

"Yeah…I miss seeing my friends," she said.

Ayumi's father knelt down beside Ayumi and said, "Since you say you feel well enough, then you can go."

"Thanks, daddy," Ayumi said hugging her father.

"But," he said, "if you feel like you need to come home, either me or your mother."

"Okay."

----------------

Genta and Mitsuhiko stood just outside the gate to the school grounds. Both were wearing long faces and looking tired. While they both wanted to get a good night, sleep nightmares kept waking them up.

"Morning," they heard Ayumi say.

She stood by them looking at the ground. Genta and Mitsuhiko could hear Ayumi sniffing. Neither of them knew what to do but they did understand what she was feeling.

Since they considered themselves men, they did not want to let anyone see them cry for no apparent reason. But each night, despite their childish perceptions of themselves, they went to sleep, crying in the arms of their parents.

Genta looked at Ayumi, who was crying a river of silent tears, and then at Mitsuhiko. I want to stop hurting, he thought. I wish Conan were here. He would know what to do.

The last thought had jumped unbidden into his mind. And when he realized that Conan was gone, would never be able to lend his intelligent, mature advice anymore, he began to cry along with Ayumi.

Mitsuhiko began to cry when he saw that Genta was crying because if someone as big and strong a Genta were crying then it would be all right for him to cry.

The three of them grouped together and held each other as they cried. After a few minutes of unashamed tears of loss for their fallen friend, they broke apart.

They looked at each other, realizing that no one wanted to go to school that day but they did not want to be at home either.

Mitsuhiko spoke first, "I don't want to go home or school. Let's go to Professor Agasa's. He'll understand."

Ayumi and Genta shook their heads in agreement.

Emboldened and relived of some sorrow by the presence of good, understanding friends Ayumi added a point, "Yeah. And Ai-chan hasn't come to school, either. She might be sad, too."

With a new resolve, the three of them trotted off to the Professor's house.

----------------

**Knock knock**

Haibara trotted up the stairs from her research in the lab.

Who might be visiting at this time of the day? she thought.

Opening the door, she was quite surprised to see Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko.

"Morning, Ai-chan," said Ayumi leaning forward looking closely at Haibara's face, "How are you?"

"Yeah, we wondering if you were okay?" said Mitsuhiko.

"We've heard that you haven't been to school either," added Genta.

Haibara blinked and tried to figure out the best answer to the onslaught of questions.

"Ah, well, I've been doing stuff," she finally replied.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Haibara asked sensing this visit had more meaning to it than a couple of kids skipping school.

"Well," said Mitsuhiko, "we were kinda worried about you. You understood Conan-kun better than we did and the professor has known him the longest."

Haibara looked at the three children analyzing the situation with her intelligent mind. Coming to a conclusion, she beckoned them into the house and indicated that they should seat themselves while she got some drinks.

On second thought, I ought to grab some tissue, too. This is not merely a social visit and the situation is bound to become tearful, Haibara reflected. They are applying their own feelings to mine, she thought with her mouth almost quirking up into a half smile.

Returning to the living room, she placed the drinks and tissues on the table and said, "You are really here to talk about Edogawa-kun, aren't you? You feel lost without him, correct?"

Hearing her inner feelings so properly voiced, Ayumi burst into tears. Feeling awkward and yet understanding the child's sadness, Haibara scooted next to Ayumi and wrapped her arms around the girl.

Genta and Mitsuhiko, also, started crying and hugging each other. After a few minutes, the tears subsided some.

Through his tears, Mitsuhiko asked, "Why are you so, so, so…well, you don't look really sad."

Haibara continued to hold Ayumi as she thought about the question. Doing so was not easy with all their eyes trained on her.

"I **am** sad that he is gone. But just because he has died does not mean that he is forgotten. He taught me things and he was there for me when really I needed him," Haibara paused for a moment and then continued, "he may be dead but that does not mean that he is not my friend any longer. I am a better person for having known him and I am going to honor his memory."

"So, what you mean is he is still our friend if we remember him?" asked Genta.

"And we are all better for having known him?" added Mitsuhiko hopefully.

Smiling at her young friends, Haibara said, "Yes."

The true children of the Detective Boys looked at each other, still feeling sad yet happier that they where beginning to _understand_.

The professor came down the stairs and was quite surprised to see Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta.

"Ah…," he tried to say something but was at a loss.

"Professor," asked Ayumi, her old self coming out some, "can we stay here today?" Genta and Mitsuhiko nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well…only if your parents agree and if you stay down here and keep quite. I am doing delicate work upstairs and I can't be disturbed by any noise. If you are too loud I will make you go to school," Agasa said. Then he turned and went to call the Detective Boys parents.

Haibara smiled as she watched the Detective Boys begin to talk animatedly, but quietly, among themselves about upcoming cases they could try solving. She was glad to see that it was true that children bounce back quickly.

I hope they can continue to exhibit this kind of emotional development and maturity at his memorial service in about two weeks, Haibara thought.

* * *

This file has been the one of the hardest to write. I found it difficult to write a child's perspective.

I'm glad so many people liked the last file. I don't even think it's my best. Takagi is my favorite cop, too. He's so cuuuuuute!! Sorry, I fan-girled there. But I (hopefully!) got it out of my system.

Personally, I really like next week's file. It practically wrote itself.

One of you made a good point. I _do_ have problems with making dialogue sound natural. I write to get better. I'll revise the _whole_ story right before I post the last file.

Posted: 6-16-04


	7. File 6: Learn of the Truth

File 6: Learn of the Truth

**

* * *

**

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.

-Aldous Leonard Huxley, British writer

**

* * *

**

Kudo, you **idiot**! Going and getting yourself killed! That isn't worthy of you. Heiji continued to muse. You _have_ left Neechan all alone. I thought you told me you promised her that you'd come back. Liar! And I bet that Ai gir—

"HEIJI!" Kazuha yelled in Heiji's ear.

"AH!" he said, jumping in his seat, "What'd you do that for, aho (1)?!"

"You just didn't hear a single thing I told you, aho!" replied Kazuha sharply in turn.

Heiji sighed in resignation, "What did you say?"

"I asked you if you know where the memorial service is being held."

"Professor Agasa told me to come over to his place and he'll take us over to the place."

"What were you thinking about earlier?" she asked.

"Huh?" Heiji looked at Kazuha in confusion.

She sighed at the amazing stupidity of high school detectives, "When I yelled at you earlier?"

"Oh. I was wondering how Neechan is holding up," said Heiji thinking up the white lie quickly.

Well…it's not a complete lie, he thought. I was thinking about her.

As flight attendant came on over the intercom, Heiji and Kazuha paused to listen.

_ "Passengers, please make sure your safety belts are buckled and your trays are up and locked in position and your seats in their full and upright positions. We are making the final descent into __Tokyo__International__Airport__. We know you have a choice in airlines and we thank you for choosing __Tokyo__ Air."_

"Hear that, Heiji? We are almost there," said Kazuha.

No, duh, were almost there, I heard the announcement, too, he wanted to say but for a change, he held his tongue and merely grunted an affirmative.

"Normally, I'd be really excited about seeing Ran-chan but…I know she isn't taking things too well," continued Kazuha, "I am worried about her."

"Part of her…problem is that she was relying on Conan for emotional support in place of Kudo," said Heiji but he thought, Kudo won't be returning, though. And 'problem' isn't the right word but I can't think of a better one.

Kazuha brought a hand up to her chin that completed the puzzled look she now wore. She murmured "But Ran-chan said, 'Now, Shinichi will never return.' Does she think Kudo-kun will hold her responsible for Conan-kun's death?"

OH CRAP! Neechan _knows_! Heiji struggled to keep a nonchalant expression on his face.

"If Kudo is thinking that, I will personally hunt him down and beat the tar out of him with my shinai," Heiji temporized.

There was a thump that indicated that the plane had landed.

_ "Please remain seated while the plane is taxiing. Once we come to a stop, be careful opening the overhead bins because luggage may have shifted during the flight."_

Switching topics Kazuha asked, "Where are we going first?"

"We swing by Neechan's for a bit. You can stay for a little while. I'm going with the professor to his place. Apparently, Kudo's father is in town and he'd like to meet me. The professor said that Kudo-han offered to take us to our hotel after the memorial service."

"Hmmm," Kazuha said thoughtfully, "sounds like a plan to me.

**------------------**

Ran smiled wanly at a humorous remark made by Heiji. While, he could tell she was amused by his humor, deeper down she was suffering. Kazuha, too, noticed this silent suffering. She had a moment of insight.

Heiji wants me to stay and talk to Ran-chan because he feels I connect better with her than he could. That's why he was arguing for me to stay with Ran while he went ahead to Professor Agasa's. Kazuha internally smiled at the surprising thoughtfulness of Heiji.

"Oi, Neechan. Agasa's invited me over to his place for a bit before the service. I'll be coming in with him, so don't worry about me," said Heiji and trotted down the stairs to the bus stop.

After a minute had passed, Ran finally spoke again, "I was thinking of not going."

"Ran-chan, you have to go, you were Conan-kun's primary caretaker." Looking directly into Ran's eyes, she continued, "And you can't keep moping around. Lay him to rest today. He would want that."

Sniffing, Ran brought a tissue up to wipe her eyes, "I wish it were that simple, Kazuha-chan but…but…"

Ran began to sob again.

Kazuha patted her gently on the back, "But what, Ran-chan?"

"But I think…I think that…" said Ran still sniffing, "Never mind," I don't think she would believe me if I told her I think Conan is Shinichi, "I'm not ready to talk about it yet." It's too outrageous. Unbelievable. And I'm so afraid it the truth, Ran thought.

"Well, when you are ready you can tell me."

"Thank you."

**--------------------**

Heiji knocked on the Professor's door and was greeted by Haibara.

"Good afternoon, Hattori-kun," Haibara said with a slight smile, she turned from the door she told Agasa, "Hattori-kun is here."

"Ah, Heiji-kun, you can go straight to the Kudo's house," said Agasa, "you are expected."

"Thanks, Professor," said Heiji and trotted on next door to the Kudo house. Was it me, or was that Ai girl calmer than she should be? he thought.

As Heiji walked through the gate he was greeted by a man who looked a lot like Shinichi.

Ah ha! Now I know whom Kudo got his looks from.

"Kudo-han, I'm Heiji Hattori. Nice to meet you," said Heiji bowing.

"It is a pleasure to meet an acquaintance of my son. I'm Yuusaku Kudo, though you already knew that," Yuusaku said grinning. "Please come in and meet Yukiko."

"Your wife is here?" asked Heiji just a little surprised, "I wasn't told she would be here."

"Well, 'Fumiyo Edogawa' must make an appearance today, you know," said Yukiko dressed in the clothes of Fumiyo.

"I am putting in an appearance for my wife because she 'is unable to make it'," said Yuusaku. At Heiji's questioning looked he elaborated, "Yukiko is supposed to be distantly related to Conan."

"Ah…" said Heiji just a little puzzled. They are both a little…well…happy for a couple that has lost their only child. "Are you guys okay?" waving his hands in the air trying to voice his confusion.

"Huh?" the Kudos said.

"Oh my," said Yukiko covering up a big smile with a hand.

"I guess you don't know then," said Yuusaku grinning.

Looking even more confused, Heiji said, "Know what?"

"Let me show you," said Yukiko waving for Heiji to follow her up the stairs.

Still looking and feeling puzzled, Heiji followed Yukiko to a door and walked in when she motioned him inside.

I don't like that smile she's wearing, thought Heiji. She's up to something. I don't like

Heiji looked around the bedroom as he stepped through the doorway. His eye caught someone in the room and he stopped dead in his tracks. Heiji's mouth dropped open and his eyes opened to the size of saucers.

A dry, scathing remark cut through his shock, "If you keep your mouth open like that a bird might fly in and start making a nest there."

Heiji's mouth snapped shut and he pointed as he said with shock and some anger,

.

"**KUDO!?"**

****

. Sitting up in the bed was one Shinichi Kudo, currently known as Conan Edogawa.

"But but but but…" Heiji seemed unable to get out a coherent sentence.

Conan chuckled at Heiji's reaction.

"Who? What? When? Where? HOW?!" Heiji asked in quick succession while becoming irritated and agitatedly waving his hands around.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I just woke up yesterday. Not my fault that no one told you," Conan said, shrugging.

"I **do not** like being left out of the loop. Now," continued Heiji, "answer my question."

"Which one?"

Heiji sighed with exasperation as he threw his hands up in the air. After a moment he asked, "Okay, if that's the way you're going to act. What happened?"

"You want to know what happened?" Conan said. "Well, the short story is I got shot, thrown into a river and lived."

"No shit, Sherlock! (3)" snapped Heiji becoming more exasperated and irritated.

Conan grinned maliciously, "Payback's a bitch, isn't it?"

Heiji muttered to himself, "Damn it! Kazuha was right about stuff I do coming back to bite me."

"You got that right! I knew I'd get back at you one day for calling me 'Kudo' in public."

Speaking to Conan he asked, "When did you become so, so…," waving his hands around trying to find the right word.

Nonchalantly, Conan replied, "Cheating death can do that to a person."

"I hope you've got that out of your system," Heiji growled, "I want to know what happened."

"Fine, I'll tell you what happened. It started with a very stressed-looking man asking me the time. It was 3:37…"

_To be continued…_

**

* * *

**

(1) aho= silly, idiot. Not quite as strong in meaning as 'baka'.

(2) -han is an alternate form of –san. Used in the region that Heiji is from, I can't remember where he is from at the moment.

(3) I've wanted to write that for a long time… --;

Can you tell I've flown a lot? Heh heh.

I almost left this file at the "KUDO!?" part but I decided not to do that cliffhanger (Also, it didn't flow as well in the next file).

Heiji is such fun to write. He's so much more expressive and animated than any other character.

Posted: 6-23-04


	8. File 7: It Tolls not for Him

File 7: It Tolls Not for Him

* * *

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.

-Isaac Asimov

* * *

"It's 3:37," Conan told the man who looked like he was almost on the edge.

Conan thought, He could ask anybody on the street the time but he feels compelled to ask a seven year old? If I recall correctly he was down at the base of the bridge. Did he realize he was late for something and his watch was broken? It's almost as if he went out of his way to ask me.

However, future musing was cut short by a shaky yet strong grip on his shirtfront. "Whaaa?!" Conan reflexively cried out as he was lifted the bridge railing.

What did he just say? 'If I don't they will kill her.' It sounds like his wife, maybe daughter, is threatened. …Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, I don't think scolding this guy is going to make him put me down. …What's he pulling out of his jacket.

**OH CRAP!! **He has a GUN!

Conan had no time to express his internal horror as he watched the man put the gun up to Conan's chest and pull the trigger. Simultaneously, he felt a searing hot pain form and grow in his chest as his hearing was temporarily lost by the close discharge of the gun. The pain was so intense that he felt his mind and body descending in the blackness of unconsciousness.

**SPLASH!**

Suddenly, a cold and very wet feeling replaced the searing hot pain, releasing Conan from the grips of unconsciousness.

Conan mentally yelled, AHHHH! COLD! Yet, it cools the burning. He must have thrown me in the river.

Thrashing, Conan struggled to stay above the turbulent water. When he did get a view of the land he was swept by he could see he was already far downstream.

Blurb! Gulp! **COUGH COUGH!! **

He tried not to swallow too much water. But the tumultuous river would drag him under time and again, would throw a wave a water right onto his head seemingly every time he tried to take a breath of air.

When Conan felt he could no longer stay afloat he discovered that he rested on the shore on a curve of the river. With the last vestiges of his strength, he pulled himself from his resting place on the shore to rest underneath a rotting, overturned rowboat, where he then passed out.

----------------

Oh! It burns! Why do I hurt…so much? My head feels like it is being squeezed. Wait…I think…I remember now. Pain in the chest… I was shot, wasn't I?

…

And thrown into the river. Now…now I…rest underneath a boat. Oooooooh…I feel like going back to sleep. Sleep is bad…isn't it? Should…try…should try…and call…someone.

By some miracle, Conan's cell phone had dried out and worked. Somehow, Conan was able to dial the professor's house in his growing feverish delirium.

"Hello?" answered a familiar voice.

"Pro…professor?"

"Shinichi! Shinichi, where are you?" asked the worried professor, "I thought you were dead! I heard you were shot a couple of hours ago…"

Agasa could hear Conan's ragged breathing but no matter how much he talked, he could not get a coherent response.

"I burn…yet…am cold."

"Hold on Shinichi. I'm on my way. Just stay on the line," said the professor, trying to keep the concern and pleading out of his voice.

Agasa looked at Haibara. She was shaking and curled up in a state of terror, thinking _they_ were coming after her.

She's not going to be any help for a while. She is still shaken from the news. Maybe…I can break her from her terror. I _need_ her assistance, thought Agasa.

"Ai-kun. Shinichi is still alive. I need you to get medicines and bandages ready. I don't think he's in good shape," informed Agasa.

Haibara opened her eyes a little from the spot she was curled up in fear, "Kudo-kun? Alive? How?"

"I don't know," he replied while getting an extra set of tracking glasses to locate Conan, "but I need you to get the house ready for him. We will discuss the ramifications what has happened after I've picked up Shinichi. I also need you to continue to talk to him. We can't have him falling asleep."

Haibara watched Agasa walk out the door and lock it behind him. She watched the door for a few more minutes before she awoke out of her fearful stupor. She picked up the phone from where Agasa had placed it and finally began speaking typical comforting things that are spoken to people who are in shock to Conan as well as gathering medicines and bandages.

----------------

Conan was trying to listen to Haibara on his cell phone, when, suddenly, he found himself soaring through the sky with a flock of migrating birds. He plummeted to earth only to be caught by Ran.

"Shinichi," she said, "it is wonderful that you are back."

He opened his eyes and was back to being Shinichi.

Shinichi enclosed Ran in his arms and said, "Ran…I've wanted to tell you for so long, but I love you."

"Shinichi," he heard a voice say, "I…ot…Ran…Drink this…ichi"

Suddenly, Ran disappeared from his arms and Gin was standing in front of the kneeling Shinichi.

"Die, Detective," Gin said with a cold smile and pulled the trigger.

Shinichi yelled as it felt like the bullet hit him in the chest. Abruptly, Shinichi descended into peaceful blackness.

----------------

"Shin-chan? Shin-chan?" he heard.

"Mom?" he mumbled. "I want to go out and play," begged young Shinichi of his mother. "I want to go and play with Ran."

His mother suddenly turned into a little girl. She grabbed his hand asking him to play with her. Young Shinichi pulled his hand from her hand and ran away.

Running, the scene changed to a flat plain with an enormous thunderstorm. He began running for shelter from the thunder and lightning when he fell down a black hole.

----------------

Conan blinked multiple times as he opened his eyes trying to work the sleep out of them. His attempt at stretching was arrested by a pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw bandages. Abruptly, what had happened, came to the surface of his mind.

I am alive? How?.

Though, his brain was still a little sleep muddled he took a quick glance around his surroundings.

This is _my_ room. Shinichi's room. How did I get here?

Conan noted that the room was getting lighter, which meant that the sun was beginning to rise.

Okay. Let's establish the facts. One: I'm alive. Two: I'm in my own bed in my own home. Three: Don't remember much after falling in the river. Think I called someone. Four: I recall hearing Agasa and Haibara. I think I've even heard my parents. Five: I'm not dead…

Conan dozed back off before finishing his deductions. But instead of feverish dreams, he had a deep and restful sleep.

He woke later to a soft rustling in his room. Opening his eyes he was greeted by the exiting back of his mother.

"Mom?"

She turned around quickly, walked over to the bed, and sat down on it, "Shin-chan, I hope I didn't wake you."

"I was waking up. But what am I doing here?" he asked.

"Well, after Agasa picked you up after you called him he-."

"I called him?" interrupted Conan "Wait…I thought that was a dream."

"Hmph, don't interrupt me, Shin-chan. Getting back to what I was saying, Agasa picked you up and both Ai-kun and he cared for you. You had slipped into a pretty bad fever for a while. Agasa contacted us, took a while because you know how hard we can be to contact. We didn't make it back till about a week and a half after you'd been shot. It had been touch and go until a couple of days ago. Now it looks like you'll make a full recovery," she said with a smile and a quick pat on his head.

Conan smiled a little because of the relief he was feeling.

Suddenly looking more serious, his mother said, "But there are some problems…"

"Yes, son, you have to make a decision about what you are going to do from here," his father said, walking into the room. "Everyone believes Conan is dead. The memorial service for Conan Edogawa is tomorrow afternoon. You've been out of it for nearly three weeks."

Conan's jaw dropped in shock at this news.

"Before you make any decisions, there is one important piece of information you need to know. Agasa and Haibara have acquired a sample of the Apotoxin, you'll have to ask them how," he said, forestalling Conan's question, "and are currently working on a cure," Yuusaku sat down on the chair for Shinichi's desk. "You can either stay here and remain hidden until a cure is found or you may accompany your mother and myself back to the U.S."

----------------

"So…you have to decide if you are going to stay or go?" asked Heiji.

"I've already decided that I am going to stay," said Conan twiddling his thumbs nervously. "There are a lot of good ones for me to stay. Especially since I know Haibara is probably working around the clock to create an antidote."

"Hmmmm," said Heiji, "You're dad probably said something about cabin fever, too."

"Yeah, he did when I told him my decision but I'll deal with it," replied Conan, "Speaking of dealing with stuff, you are going to have to act really well at 'my' memorial service in a bit. You can't let anyone know that I am alive."

"Yeah, yeah, I get you," Heiji paused, "I've got one question left though."

"Shot away," said Conan, then he winced at his choice of words.

Heiji chuckled a little at the slip of the tongue. "So, why didn't you use your watch?" he asked.

"Well…," Conan looked a little abashed, "it didn't occur to me right off hand."

Heiji face faulted. "Oi, oi!"

"Actually, I think it did occur unconsciously to me. But only as I saw him pulling out the gun. Thinking back, I realize that if I used the stun watch right then, there would have been a _really_ good chance of him falling asleep right on top of me and making both of us fall into the river," said Conan.

Putting his hand up to stoke his chin in thought, Heiji considered this information.

"Yeah, I do see your point, Kudo."

Yukiko came to the door dressed as Fumiyo Edogawa stopping any further conversation. She sniffed, holding a handkerchief up and dabbing her eyes, she said, "I have to go to my little Conan-chan's memorial now. Are you coming, Heiji-kun?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll catch up with you a minute. See ya later, Kudo." He paused at the doorway and added, "Oh, and a piece of advice, give Neechan a call soon. She's not taking things too well right now and I think a call would help." Heiji waved as he walked out the door and departed with 'Fumiyo Edogawa' and Yuusaku Kudo.

* * *

Almost the whole chapter I wrote in one go. In a couple of days, I'll be posting an interlude. It's really short. It's meant to be that way.  
I hope I answered your questions about why Conan didn't use his watch. Personally, I love the Conan-Heiji banter.

To answer the question "Why was Conan upset about Heiji calling him Kudo?" Well, for established fans this is a simple question to answer. Heiji on multiple occasions calls Conan "Kudo" in public and in front of Ran.

I love the quote for this chapter. Hehe.

Posted: 6-30-04


	9. Interlude: Memorial

A/N: Some spoilers if you have just got into the series. Especially for vol. 25. Not sure of the episode #.

* * *

Interlude: Memorial

* * *

A man's true wealth is the good he does in this world.  
-Mohammed

* * *

"There was that time in the cave-"  
"Yeah, he pushed us out of the way of that bullet that that guy fired."  
"He told us stuff that we figured out how to get out though he was fainted."  
"And he wasn't afraid of anyone!"  
"Yeah, yeah! He faced down really bad guys like murders and robbers and made them scared of him!"  
"He had the coolest gadgets and he appreciated the scientific process."  
"Hey! Don't forget that he..." 

----------------  
"He was a most intelligent boy that the whole department is going to miss. Often, he would notice the little things that helped many officers put the clues together. If only we could teach others to really see like he did, then we would be an even better"  
"He will be greatly missed."

----------------  
"I miss him. He was like a little guardian angel watching out for me when dad or Shinichi were not around. I wish, I wish..."  
"Its okay, sweetie, you don't have to say anymore."

----------------  
"I never realized how much my Conan-chan meant to everyone. I had thought...thought that I would be the only one feeling this way. But I feel better knowing I am not alone."  
"Thank you for being there for him"  
"Not a problem." "Here's another handkerchief." "Will you be around long?" "Edogawa-san, do you need a ride back to your hotel room?" "I'm so sorry you lost your only son."

* * *

Speech only interlude. Not a true chapter. I hope you get the idea of whose speaking in each section. This is something I just spat out. Nothing fancy. Also, I am editing this on a machine w/o word, so the format is a little different. I will fix it when I get home from my trip. 

Posted: 7-3-04


	10. File 8: Tears and Hope

**A/N:** In addition to the extra day that ff.net made me wait to post this, I really ought to wait another day following my policy of being told to "update soon." I decided to be nice and count yesterday but if I'm told to update I _will_ wait and extra day to post. Consider this a warning.

* * *

File 8: Tears and Hope

* * *

There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

-Proverbs 23:18

While there's life, there's hope!

-Ancient Roman Saying

* * *

Ran and Sonoko walked side by side after school one afternoon. Sonoko filled the silence surrounding the pair of them by talking about classes and the cute guys she had seen that day. A passer-by would be surprised by the stark difference between the two young women, one happy and seemingly carefree, and the other sorrow filled.

I know Kazuha told me to bury my sorrow at the memorial a couple of days ago but I can't. How can I? If Conan is Shinichi, then I've lost both of them, Ran thought.

Tears began to fall from Ran's face again. Sonoko, who noticed that Ran was crying for at least the second time that day, stopped talking and looked at Ran.

"Ran…" said Sonoko quietly with almost uncharacteristic concern, "You're crying again."

"Huh?" Ran said quietly, "I wasn't aware I was crying." She wiped away the previously unnoticed tears with the back of her hand.

Sonoko quietly watched her friend out of the corner of her eye for the next few minutes as they walked together in silence.

She still misses Chibi-chan.(1) I don't really understand her attachment but I suppose if I lost my sister I'd feel a lot like she feels. Still…she is acting more as if she has lost the love of her life and not someone she thought of as a little brother. Trying to take Ran's mind off things, Sonoko suggested that they go shopping. Minutes stretched by as Ran considered Sonoko's suggestion.

Finally, Ran replied emotionlessly, "I'm sorry, Sonoko, but I don't really feel like going shopping today."

Ran's statement brought forth Sonoko's frustration, which had been building up, and she snapped at Ran, "I don't care. You are going to get out and away from your home. You have been moping around for too long. It isn't healthy." She turned to Ran and pointed an accusatory finger at her as she said, "AND, you are going to tell me what is really bothering you because you are acting awfully odd for someone who lost someone they thought of as a younger brother." Ran's eyes widened slightly at the last part of Sonoko's accusatory statement.

I can't tell her I think Conan is Shinichi. She wouldn't believe me. I hardly believe me. It's just too outrageous. Still…

"Sonoko, I don't want to tell you because you won't believe me," said Ran somewhat reluctantly. "But…I think part of what is bothering me is that I can't talk to Shinichi about what has happened. He frequently calls after something big happens to me, I think the professor tells him, and he calls. But he hasn't called. He hasn't called in almost a month and a half. He usually calls before a month has past. Something might have happened to him. …I think I'm worried about him on top of everything else and that might be why he hasn't called."

That should satisfy Sonoko but…it isn't a complete lie either, thought Ran. If my suspicions are wrong then something might be wrong with Shinichi.

"Huh, that makes sense," said Sonoko, perking back up to her normal self now that she knew what was bothering her friend.

"Maybe I'll go shopping for a little while," said Ran, caving, "It might help me feel a little better."

"That's better," said Sonoko. Striking a pose, she proclaimed, "Onward shopping!" Then, she grabbed Ran's arm and dragged her off in search of the nearest sale.

----------------

Ran walked up the stairs to the apartment, laboring a bit under the purchases she had made and her tired feet.

That wasn't a full-blown 'Sonoko Shopping Expedition' but it was close, thought Ran as she plopped down onto the sofa after an afternoon of power shopping.

Ran kicked off her shoes and relaxed into the slightly worn, but comfortable couch. She sat, recovering her energy, listening to the eerily quite apartment.

Unconsciously, she thought, shouldn't Conan-kun be here? Did Dad and Conan-kun go out? Sometimes Dad takes Conan-kun to Mah-Jongg. Maybe he's out with friends? Ran sucked in a labored breath. Conan-kun isn't here. He'll never be here again.

Ran began to cry again. Pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs, she began to weep in earnest. She wept for the loss of the cute but strangely mature and protective presence of Conan.

"I want to let go," Ran whispered, "I want to let go. But…"

She unwillingly kept thinking about her suspicions, that Conan and Shinichi were one in the same.

Speaking to herself, Ran said, "If Shinichi is dead, then…then…I don't really have anyone left to live for. Shinichi means so much to me. Without him, my life has lost meaning. I don't want to live without him. It wouldn't matter if I just disappeared of died. Some people would miss me but they could move on."

Ran slipped further and further into the pits of despair that had consumed her heart since she was first informed of Conan's death. Alone with her thoughts, she was unable to defend herself from the melancholy that was held at bay by simply having other people around.

"Shinichi," she whispered. "Shinichi…you can't be gone, you just can't. I won't allow it!" she wept.

"SHINICHI!"

Minutes or hours could have past and she would not have noticed. Her lamentation was interrupted, though, by the ringing of the phone echoing through the silence in the apartment.

She gasped in surprise. Wiping her tears and clearing her voice, she answered the phone. "Hello, Mouri Detective Agency."

"Ran," the voice on the other end made her heart stop for a moment. She gripped the phone tighter as tears began to pour anew from her eyes.

"Shinichi…Shinichi," she wept, disbelief coloring the tones of her voice.

Quietly, almost shyly, Shinichi said, "Yeah…it's me."

There was a few moments filled only with Ran's crying before Shinichi spoke again. "I'm so sorry, Ran. I would have called sooner if I could have. And I'm sorry I'm not there right not," said Shinichi.

"Baka! I've been so worried!" she said, a little bit of her old self coming back. "But still…Shinichi!" Ran said with tears still running down her face.

"It's okay, Ran. Cry all you need to. I'm here for you to talk to."

Ran told him of her grief over the death of Conan and wept, finally able to bury him. Their conversation lasted well into the night, with Ran's dad coming home and only half-heartedly grumbling about her talking on the phone for so long.

Before they parted ways, Shinichi fervently promised Ran, "I'll call at least once a week till I come back. And I may be coming back soon. Ran…I swear I'll do what I can to help you."

----------------

Haibara looked at the latest set of tests in the search for the antidote to the Apotoxin.

Another failure, she thought, sighing as she tore off the latest printout. This is the…, she looked at her notes to see how many previous attempts had failed, is the forty-third failure, she thought with some surprise. It seems like there have been a lot less than that. At least, not all the tests have been complete failures. But I need a break.

Haibara walked up the stairs from her lab. She walked to the kitchen where she got some lemonade. Electrolytes and water, she thought with a smile, the perfect way to regain my energy.

"Good afternoon, Ai-kun," said Agasa ambling into the room. "How goes the research?"

"Better and worse than I thought," answered Haibara. "Another test failed and when I looked back to see how many before have failed I discovered a lot. However, the puzzling thing is that I do not feel discouraged. I don't understand why."

Agasa smiled sagely, "It is because you are filled with hope. You have the poison and you have the temporary antidotes to work from so you are not fishing around in the dark." He paused a moment and added, "It also helps that Shinichi is going to be just fine in a couple of weeks." Haibara considered this information and then nodded in agreement.

"But I am still puzzled as to the number of failures," she said, "I am working using the poison and the temporary antidotes and I am only having more failures."

"Uh, Ai-kun, might I make a suggestion, scientist to scientist?" asked Agasa.

"Certainly," Haibara replied.

"Instead of using the temporary antidotes as models of what worked maybe you should figure out why they failed and work from there."

Haibara looked at Agasa with widened eyes, "That is a very good idea. Why didn't you say something earlier? Why didn't I think of it?"

Agasa looked abashed, "Well, it didn't occur to me till just now."

Haibara chuckled a little. Feeling better and filled with even more hope because she had direction, she parted with Agasa and headed back to her lab. She stopped a moment to look out the window. What she saw was a bright and cloudless day. She could hear birds chirping and cicadas buzzing. Haibara smiled at the unexpected peace it brought to her mind. Turning away from the window, she headed down the stairs to continue her search.

* * *

(1) Sonoko actually does call Conan "Chibi-chan." Means little or short. Would be like her calling him shorty. Understandably, he hates it.

Angsty Ran and a hopeful Ai. I call that a reversal.

I know people are reading this story who just started watching it on Cartoon Network. And this is somewhat unfortunate because I have been writing this story with readers who know all the basic and secondary characters in mind. This means that there are unintentional spoilers in the story. I've tried to keep them to a minimum but there is only so much a person can do.

Posted: 7-8-04


	11. File 9: Seconds, Anyone?

File 9: Seconds, Anyone?

* * *

A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash.

-Proverbs 15:14

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

-Chinese proverb

* * *

Kogoro Mouri walked up the steps of the Beika police headquarters. Inside, he was directed to Inspector Megure's office.

"Thank you for coming, Mouri-kun," Inspector Megure said, greeting Kogoro.

"Uhh, not a problem. You did mention letting me see the files on Conan-kun's shooting," said Kogoro, "and I would like very much to get to the bottom of it. Especially, for Ran's sake."

Motioning for Kogoro to follow him, they started down the hall, headed towards the filing room.

"I had noticed that she had taken it very hard," replied Megure.

Kogoro looked a little disgruntled at a thought and muttered to himself, "She _has_ been better since she got a phone call from that _boy,_" he said.

Megure looked puzzled for a moment as he tried to figure out who 'that boy' was. Understanding suddenly, Megure blurted, "Kudo-kun called? That's good." Megure asked, "has he mentioned when he is coming back?"

"Ran didn't say. But she was a lot better yesterday when I got home. Apparently, she'd been on the phone with him all afternoon." Kogoro looked even more disgruntled. Whether it was the thought that Shinichi has been tying up the phone line or the fact he had called was unclear.

Megure and Kogoro continued to make small talk as they walked down the hall to filing. Kogoro would wave at an officer from time to time if he recognized or had served on the force with them.

Coming to the filing room, Megure motioned for the clerk to retrieve the file.

"Here's the file," said Megure, "if you don't mind sticking around for a little while, I'd like to give you my impressions of the case."

Kogoro looked at Megure appreciatively, "That would be great."

Walking back to Megure's office, they went in and began to discuss impressions on the case.

---------------

"Hmmm, so the general consensus is that the murder was a message," said Kogoro. "I was afraid of that. That means Ran and Eri are in danger."

Megure cleared his throat, a bit surprised to hear Kogoro mention his estranged wife, "You are also in danger, too. Since, the message is directed at you."

Kogoro raised an eyebrow at the truth in that statement. "But I would rather they come at me," he said, "I don't want those around me to get hurt."

Megure looked at Kogoro in surprise.

I have rarely witnessed such nobility from Mouri-kun. Smiling internally, he thought to himself, and he still loves his wife despite the estrangement.

Kogoro gave the files a quick glance. "Could I borrow these files, Inspector Megure? I'd like to do some investigating on my own."

Snapping out of his musing Megure said, "Ah, certainly, Mouri-kun. I can't actually give these files to you. But I can have copies made for you within two weeks. I can give you a call when they're ready."

Handing the files back, standing up and bowing, Kogoro said, "Thank you, Inspector. I appreciate you getting copies of the files." He grinned knowingly, "I know doing that is not exactly by the book. And thank you for talking with me today. It has given me some ideas." Standing up he turned and walked away to leave the room.

Just before he left the room Megure told Kogoro, "Be careful, Mouri-kun. Whoever did this is still out there."

"Tch," said Kogoro, "but," and he grinned rakishly, "if something happened to me who would take care of Ran and Eri? I'll watch out for myself." He pointed at himself with a thumb during the last statement. Then he bowed on last time and left.

Megure groaned at Kogoro's words and actions. Megure sat for a few moment longer thinking about the meeting after Kogoro had left. Still making his 'I can't believe him face,' Megure thought, I hope he really isn't as much of a fool as he acts half the time. Pausing a moment in his thoughts he remembered something important.

Mouri-kun rarely is foolish and a fool when it involves him personally or someone close to him. And Mouri-kun is taking this case very personally. "He's not the only one," whispered Megure thinking of his own feelings and those voiced by all those that had met Conan.

---------------

A figure dressed in black sat in a secluded corner of dining establishment. This particular establishment catered to clandestine meetings between businessmen and their mistresses and was frequented by the shadier members of society. Another dark figure sat down in the secluded corner. A closer inspection would show that the first figure was Chardonnay.

With a nod of acknowledgement of the newly arrived individual, he launched straight to the point.

"I have punished the operative who dropped the box of samples."

Nodding, the unidentified figure motioned for Chardonnay to continue.

"The target does not appear to have understood the message. He is still searching."

"We've noticed. He cannot be allowed to take anymore cases," he said in business-like fashion like recommending a restaurant. "We have decided to let you execute a more…permanent message."

Smiling in cold, cruel way that had made grown men wet their pants, Chardonnay said "Excellent," and looking at the menu he added, "I recommend the fish. The seasoning they use here is to die for." (1)

---------------

Kogoro walked out of the police headquarters twelve days later with copies of the files.

"Hmpf," said Kogoro, "'be careful' he says again," after pausing a moment to reflect he added, "I hate to say it…but the Inspector is probably right."

For Ran's sake, I need to figure out. I can't let her pine anymore or the loss of the brat…no, Conan-kun. I know I haven't been a very good father but it is not too late to show her I _do_ care.

He hopped into his rental car. He had gotten a new case to investigate that morning and on the assurance that Ran would be spending the day with Eri, he felt like he could take a case that was out of town for a couple of days.

Kogoro thought about how urgent the caller had made everything sound. Then, he thought about how the rental place had taken longer than usual to get him a car (for he would rent cars from this particular rental company whenever he needed a car). (2)

Shrugging he muttered to himself, "It's nothing. I'm just being paranoid."

---------------

"Tch. I hate driving to the mountains," he grumbled to himself a couple of hours later as he went around another switchback.

He could smell the rubber from the brakes due to all the times he had pushed on the brakes to slow down.

Better shift down, he thought. He looked over the edge. But I am almost at the bottom. I am only a hundred or so feet up. Taking a deep breath, he scrunched his nose up at the smell of the hot brakes. "Phew! That stinks. I _really_ need to shift down. Can't take much more of that stink!"

Besides, he considered, I don't want to carry this stink down to my client. It would give the impression that I don't know how to drive in the mountains.

Coming to the next switchback, he should not have needed as much pressure to slow down because he was not going slower. Pressing hard on the brakes helped slow the car some but the car still came uncomfortably close to the guardrail.

"Damn brakes!" he snarled as he pressed down hard to slow down, "What's wrong with you?!"  
That's it! he thought. "I'm never getting a damn rental car again! There're all pieces of crap!"

He shifted up into second gear and began to turn as he approached the next curve.

But as he came to the next curve, despite shifting back up and despite how hard he pressed on the brakes, he only slowed down a little.

The car did not slam, as so much, sideswipe the barrier along the switchback. With the passenger's side door screeching as the metal door and guardrail rubbed, Kogoro continued to try turning and braking.

Kogoro's eyes widened as he realized that he was about to come to the end of the guardrail and the beginning of the cliff.

Kogoro kept trying to slow the car down as he came to the end of the railing. Thinking quickly, he tried to engage the parking brake in a hope that he would stop or slow down. However, it was too late for the parking brake to work in time.

To his credit, he did not panic even as he went over the edge.

I've failed you, Ran, he thought. I'm sorry I wasn't able to makeup with you, Eri.

Blackness swallowed Kogoro as the car slammed into the ground at the bottom of the cliff.

---------------

The phone at the Mouri Detective Agency rang. Ran ran to the phone to answer it before they hung up.

"Hello. Mouri Detective Agency," said Ran. I hope its dad, she thought. I'm worried because I haven't heard from him in more than a day and he said he'd call when got there.

"Ran-kun?" she heard a familiar voice say.

"Yes, Inspector Megure," Ran said with growing dread.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news. Can I come pick you up and take you to the hospital? I'm afraid your father has been injured."

---------------

That evening a newscaster presented the most dramatic news of the day.

_This morning private detective Kogoro Mouri, also known as the 'Sleeping Kogoro', was found wrecked in a car at the bottom of the local mountain range. __Tokyo __Central __Hospital__ has reported his condition as critical. Police are not releasing details of the accident at this moment. Details of his injuries are, also, unavailable at this time. In other news…_

---------------

Ran and her mother, Eri, sat in the waiting room for relatives of patients, waiting for news about Kogoro's condition. Ran was silently crying into a tissue while Eri, who wore a concerned expression, held her hand.

"It's a miracle he is still alive," the doctor told Ran. "But we believe he will make a recovery because the first twenty-four hours are usually the greatest danger and your father pulled through that time."

Ran let out a little sob. First, Conan, now Dad. Does somebody hate me? she thought.

Eri asked, "What are his injuries?"

Looking at his clipboard the doctor said, "The major injuries are a severe concussion and a broken back. Lesser injuries included various broken bones and some internal bleeding. The bleeding has stopped so it is not a major concern." Pausing, the doctor made eye contact with Eri and Ran, "What we are most concerned about is the concussion. The swelling has gone down but we do not know what the effect of it will be for some time. His spinal cord was not damaged, so, the broken back will heal and physical therapy will, in time, have Mouri-san walking again."

Eri looked at Ran and gathered her in for a hug. "We _will_ deal with this, Ran-chan. I will be there to help."

Ran thought, I've wanted my parents to get back together, but not like _this_.

* * *

(1) I probably should duck and cover for that pun.

(2) All I've ever read or scene has Kogoro renting cars. I don't think he owns one.

I can't believe how cool, or intelligent for that matter, I've made Kogoro sound at times! I did think of killing him but I couldn't. He may be an idiot but he is a lovable idiot. That and I didn't want to put Ran through any more grief of losing someone.

When driving down switchbacks, shift to first gear. Doing so stops you from going over 35 mph, so, you don't need the brakes as much or smell burned rubber. I learned that traveling down switchbacks on Mt. St. Helens.

Posted: 7-14-03


	12. File 10: Living Dead

Okay…I give up on spoiler alerts for each chapter. At least this chapter and the next two have spoilers and probably the last three will, too. I guess you guys won't know what are spoilers because some of the stuff nobody will see or read for a while. You have been warned.

* * *

File 10: Living Dead

* * *

A man is not completely born until he is dead.

-Benjamin Franklin

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.

-Albert Einstein

* * *

Conan tried to roll over from his back to his side. However, he changed his mind when he was aware that his face was screwing up in pain.

Okay, that is not a good idea, he thought. Damn bullet wound. I don't remember the one in the stomach being as painful. I should ask mom about being propped up. He laughed at himself softly with a touch of irony. But then again, I was in the hospital on lots of drugs. Happy, wonderful pain-killing drugs. I wish I could have some now.

The last thought made him frown. It brought back the memory of asking for pain killing drugs from Haibara.

_"I'm sorry, Kudo-kun, but any higher dose and you run a good risk of complications and side effects from way too much medication in you system."_

Piffle to her. She doesn't know the pain I'm suffering.

Then he felt guilty remembering the time that Gin had shot her up when she had temporarily changed back.

Okay, maybe she does. I would think she'd be more concerned about complications from the fever I was running and that infection I got. She did mention that it was difficult getting drugs to treat those without raising too much suspicion. I guess I should be a little nicer to her.

I can't believe I slept for almost three weeks. However, mom did mention that I woke up sporadically. I don't remember waking up.

He looked around the room…_his_ room. He took a careful breath and closed his eyes with some contentment.

It's nice being back in my own room. _Shinichi's room_. Not Conan's. "I hope Haibara figures out the antidote soon," he muttered. "Conan is dead. Shinichi needs to return."

But not in triumphant glory, he smirked sardonically. Better to remain anonymous, or as much as I can for as long as possible. Drawing excessive attention to myself right now would be bad.

He looked at the bedside clock. Relief flooded his body when he realized it was time for his next dose of painkiller. Right on time his mother walked in through the door.

Smiling in her happy way, she asked, "Is Shin-chan ready to have his own beautiful personal nurse give him his pain relief?"

Oh-oh, he thought with a bit of panic, I'd better not say anything about her being a terrible nurse or she won't give the medicine right away. "Yeah!" Conan said in his 'cute boy' voice with the accompanying smile.

"Here you go!" she said cheerfully, handing him the pills.

He looked a little funny at her. "Mom, it usually is easier to swallow pills with water."

Yukiko looked surprised at her forgetfulness and sped out of the room quickly to get a glass of water. "I knew I forgot something!"

Yuusaku walked in through the door carrying a glass of water. "I know your mother won't come back up with water. She'll get sidetracked by something," he said with a wiry grin.

"Heh…that's mom for you," Conan said giving the half-lidded look he made when he thought someone was being stupid.

Switching tracks Conan asked, "When is Hattori coming by?"

"Professor Agasa is bringing him to his house and he'll head over," Yuusaku gave a slightly devious grin, "he's coming over under the pretext of meeting me."

Conan tilted his head in thought as he considered what his father had said. Then he began to smile in a way much like his father's. "So…he has no idea that I'm alive?" "None at all." Then he began chuckling. Conan soon joined in.

"Dad, he's going to be furious," he said shaking his head back and forth almost in disbelief at what was going to happen. "But it should be very funny."

"Should be quite amusing," agreed his father. "However, you do realize he is going to want an explanation, right?"

"Unfortunately. I know he won't quit bugging me till I give him one." But it won't stop me from milking the situation while I can.

_Later:_

"Oh, and a piece of advice, give Neechan a call soon. She's not taking things too well right now and I think a call would help," said Heiji waving goodbye.

He's right, thought Conan. Ran probably is taking things hard. Better to wait a little while, though. She'll be sensitive from the memorial service. I'll call her in a couple of days.

------------------

Listening to Ran weep he promised, "Ran…I swear I'll do what I can to help you."

After getting off the phone with Ran he sat at the table for a few minutes, his face devoid of any expression that unexpectedly broke into a mask of fury and frustration.

Damn it all!! "DAMN IT!" he yelled banging his fist on the table he sat at, nearly damaging the new voice changing bow-tie, which replaced his water damaged one, that was clenched in that fist. "Why didn't I call sooner?" Berating himself further, he continued, "Why didn't Hattori tell me she was sounding suicidal? He always leaves out the important information! Damn it! Damn him!" he paused, taking a few deep breaths. Putting his face in his hands he whispered, "But…damn me most of all. I should've known. I've lived with her long enough." The adult expression on his face looked odd on his youthful face.

Bringing his hands down from his face, he noticed they were damp. Wiping his eyes carefully he discovered that they were wet.

Looking startled, he realized that he had been crying. When…when did I start crying? He thought back. I think it was when I heard the grief in Ran's voice. "She really thought that Conan and Shinichi are the same person." Which, they are but…, "she thought that I was well and truly dead! No wonder she was grieving so much. I **am** such an idiot! She's been right to call me a mystery loving idiot all those times! I can't even see what's in front of me!"

I must do what I can to get back to her. "I can't break the promise that I will come back! I can't! If I do, Ran's heart will break."

------------------

"Come on, Haibara! Give me one of the temporary cures!" demanded Conan on a sneak over visit to the Professor's.

"No."

Getting more desperate, he began to beg, "Please! Please…I need to see her. She needs me."

Haibara gave Conan a long measuring look. Relenting a little she said, "I can't give you the temporary cure because it is all wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm somewhat astonished that it had not killed you when you took it. I think that if you took it again it might kill you." Then she turned head on to him and looked straight into his eyes, "If you died from the temporary cure then she would be worse off than she is now. Didn't you tell me you made a few promises?"

He looked guiltily at the floor. I did and I can't break them. I just can't. "I'm sorry. You're right. It's just…just that every time I call her she sounds as if she is using my phone call as a lifeline. I can't stand her feeling so depressed because of me."

"She's over 'Conan' dying but…she's so worried about her dad. When I talked to her yesterday, she sounded like she was going to break down."

He looked at the floor, feeling helpless. Haibara had watched his face become forlorn over the past few minutes. She wanted to help but…

I want to tell him I think I'm close to a breakthrough but if it fails, he will become even more despondent. Moreover, **I** do need him to function.

Haibara turned to walk away from Conan, her own emotions swirling around her. She smiled sardonically at herself. When did I become such a…caring person? What happened to that emotionless, cold scientist?

She stopped and looked back at Conan.

I think I regained my humanity. Kudo, Agasa, Ayumi-chan, and everyone else helped me regain it. Even Mouri-chan and her father. I'm so close to a breakthrough. I can't quit until I succeed.

Haibara turned away and headed down to the lab.

Just hang on a little while, Kudo. You helped me regain my humanity. I _will_ help you regain your true humanity. She smiled to herself.

------------------

Conan picked up his cell phone as it rang, seeing that it was Ran, he answered after taking care to make sure the tie was on the right setting. Just as he was saying 'Hi, Ran' she cut through his words with a joyful voice.

"Dad woke up today!" Ran said sobbing with happiness.

"That's really good news," said Conan with relief, through his bow tie. "Over all, how is he?" he asked almost tentatively.

"The doctors were afraid he would be suffering from amnesia or memory loss but he recognized me and mom just fine. And he's really grouchy about being laid up because of his broken back and…and…he's alive, Shinichi! My dad is alive! He wasn't taken from me," Ran said becoming wound up the more she spoke.

Conan sensed the need to change the topic slightly. "How did he take seeing your mom?"

"I think he looked a little surprised. But he was nice to her and I think he was happy to see her."

Conan listened to Ran continue to speak about her father and mother's reunion. He smiled because Ran was happy about her dad was getting better and about how her parents were getting along.

The past fifteen days have been rough, he thought. She has been worried about her father. I'm glad that he woke up and seems to be relatively okay. But he may have to retire.

------------------

A couple of days later he lay on the sofa in his house, staring up at the ceiling. An arm and one of his legs hung off it, his eyes glazed over as he stared into nothingness.

I'm bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored. He looked towards his father's study with all the mysteries he loved to read. I'm even bored with reading.

He looked at the clock on the wall. Damn! Ran won't be back from school for a while, so I can't call her.

He looked toward the window with its curtains drawn. I want to go outside and kick around a soccer ball. I want to go over to the Professor's. I want to look out the window, even, damn it!

"But noooooooo! Today just has to the day it seems like the whole street is out having a block party," he said sarcastically to himself. "I knew my dad wasn't kidding when he said 'cabin fever' but still…they could've at least left the cable on!"

------------------

"I take back what I said a few days ago," Conan muttered, "**Now**, I'm bored!"

Pacing, he thought, I thought things couldn't get any worse but I was wrong. He muttered under his breath, "I swear they're having a pot-luck or barbeque right in front of my gate! There are repair men in the neighbor's yard behind the house. Th professor looks like he has a scientists' convention going on next door and the other neighbors are the ones hosting the free-for-all food!"

Almost yelling, he said, "I want something, _anything_ to happen!"

Then, the house telephone rang loudly in the emptiness of the house, it's ring echoing through the building. Shinichi nearly jumped out of his pants. Looking at the phone for a moment while it continued to ring, he tried to decide whether to answer or not.

It's not like anyone is supposed to be here but you never know if it's someone that knows who is here.

"Hello?" he said tentatively.

"Kudo," he nearly wet himself when he heard his name but calmed down after the next couple of words, "you need to carry your cell phone around."

"Haibara, you scared me half to death," Conan said feeling a little peeved that he had been caught off guard.

"Come over tonight," Haibara paused, "I'm reasonably certain I've perfected an antidote."

* * *

And that's all for this chapter. I know this chapter jumps around but I wanted to fill in the blanks in the time-line and prepare for the next chapter.

Posted: 7-21-04


	13. File 11: Reunion

File 11: Reunion

* * *

Do not wait; the time will never be ''just right.'' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

-Napoleon Hill

Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it.

-Swedish Proverb

* * *

A child stood wearing grown-up clothes that were much too big for him even though he was not playing dress-up. He accepted a glass of water from a portly but intelligent looking man and an innocuous looking pill from a young girl. He put the pill in his mouth and used the water to help him swallow it.

A burning sensation began in his stomach like someone drinking strong spirits on an empty stomach. The sensation spread through his body to the tips of his fingers and toes.

It burns! It is like dying. Will it ever end?! As the pain became even more intense, he fell into black unconsciousness.

He collapsed onto the futon covered floor, the portly man and girl started a little. Neither moved forward to help, though. They watched in horrified fascination as they watched the figure on the floor undergo an incredible and almost unbelievable transformation.

Watching, they saw the limbs of the person lengthen and expand to fit the clothes that had previously been too large. It was difficult for the watchers not to do anything as they heard the figure moaning unconsciously in pain at the physical changes.

After what seemed to be an indeterminable amount of time, the changes seemed to slow down and stop. The watchers looked at each other with worry visible in their expressions. The girl made note of the time and the other moved forward and kneeled next to the fallen boy-changed-to-a-man.

--------------------

"Shinichi," said Agasa, "wake up."

Shinichi opened his eyes and moaned coming out of the semiconscious state the change had put him into.

"How do you feel?" Agasa asked.

Groaning a little he propped himself up on the futons so that he was sitting. "I feel like an overcooked noodle." He paused a moment as he collected his thoughts, "And I'm tired. I think I'd like a nap."

Haibara walked over to Shinichi, holding a glass of lemonade, "Then you may go back to your place after you have drunk this. It will help you body to recover energy from the changes."

He nodded his thanks as he took the glass and took a long swallow.

She added, "I think you should stick around your house for a day or two."

She interrupted him before he could put together a protest, "I want to make sure that this cure is a permanent one. I don't think you want a repeat of last time." Haibara added a little coldly, "As I recall the last change back occurred before you got to tell Mouri-chan how you felt."

Shinichi looked down in defeat. He knew she made a good point.

Doesn't mean I have to like it, he thought a little bitterly.

The next few minutes were relatively quiet as Agasa helped Shinichi stand and Haibara writing down the instructions for Shinichi to follow for the next two days.

Walking slowly to the front door, Shinichi paused and asked Haibara, "If it's permanent are you going to take it?"

Haibara stopped in her tracks. Agasa also stopped moving. An almost deafening silence settled in around the room.

"I haven't decided yet," she said, undecided tones coloring her voice.

---------------------

AH! Sun bright, thought Shinichi as he rolled over in an attempt to go back to sleep but sleep eluded him. Well, damn it. I'm awake now.

He smacked his mouth a couple of times as he climbed out of bed but he stopped when his feet touched the floor.

He smiled. It is so nice to have my feet touch the floor, he thought. He trotted over to the bathroom still marveling at the changes wrought two nights ago.

I can look into a mirror with no problem. I can look people in the eye. Today, Shinichi Kudo returns. Today, _I_ return!

After breakfast, he went over to the Professor's to receive the 'Okay' from Haibara.

After an onslaught of questions and tests, like "You haven't felt any unusual pain or twinges?" to "No markings, moles, or epidermis abnormalities?" which took about an hour. Finally, she said, "Well, I don't see any physical reason why you can't go out today."

When he practically started dancing she added, "While, I'd rather that you hang around for a week for observation," Shinichi's expression feel and he looked like he was going to argue, "I _know_ you. You won't hang around that long without becoming a pain. So…I'll let you go out provided you come in for observation some time each day. Perhaps in the evening when you are headed home from doing stuff during the day."

"Thank you," Shinichi said putting his hands together and doing a little bow as he edged off towards the door, "That sounds great."

Agasa chuckled and Haibara smiled, when Shinichi all but ran out the door.

"What would you bet that he heads over to Ran-chan's soon?" said Agasa.

"I would be very surprised and disappointed if he isn't at Mouri-chan's within the next hour," she said smiling happy because she had truly accomplished a major goal and had taken a huge step towards rectifying the mistake of the Apotoxin.

--------------------

Forty-five minutes later, Shinichi stood on the doorstep of the Mouri Detective Agency dressed casually and holding a bouquet of mixed flowers.

He stood on the doorstep nervously. He thought, I'd like to give her roses but she would have to explain them to her mom when she drops by, there are a few roses in here, and besides…I'd rather tell Ran with words. I want to tell her with my own voice.

He rang the doorbell and when Ran asked who was there he said in an official voice, "Special delivery for Ran Mouri."

Ran opened the door and stopped in mid-step. She stood in the doorway with surprise evident on her face. Shinichi, still nervous, smiled shyly and offered her the bouquet.

"Surprise," he said softly.

"Shinichi…how…when…," Ran tried to ask, too stunned to form a proper sentence.

"I wanted to tell you yesterday that I was coming back but I was afraid I might be detained a bit longer."

She stepped forward quickly and threw her arms around Shinichi. "I've missed you."

Shinichi put his arms around Ran, taking care not to crush the flowers he still held. "I know. I don't intend to run off like that again."

He was going to say more but her felt dampness through his shirt and realized that Ran was crying. He could almost hear her thoughts.

Ran hung onto Shinichi for all it was worth, thinking, Shinichi's back! He's back! Thank you so much, thank you! She squeezed tighter to make sure he was real and wouldn't run off.

Sensing her need to be held, Shinichi hugged a little tighter in turn, saying nothing, letting Ran cry into his shoulder, understanding that, for once, he understood her perfectly.

--------------------

The rest of the morning was spent with Ran holding tight to Shinichi's arm. Neither of them seemed to care about the looks they received from passerbies as they walked down the sidewalk towards a park.

What am I doing? Shinichi thought angrily to himself. Last time I waited to tell Ran I changed back!

"What's wrong, Shinichi?" Ran asked noticing that he was frowning.

"I just realized I'm being stupid." He looked around the park, smiling when he spotted a bench under a tree. "Let's sit down. I need to tell you something."

Ran felt a jolt when he said that. Wondering, she thought, What's he going to say? I hope…

Sitting down on the bench, Shinichi turned to Ran and grabbed both of her hands in his.

He looked right into her eyes as he began to speak, "Every time I've tried to tell you before something has happened," he started to ramble, "Sometimes it was my fault…most of the time it was mine but sometimes I couldn't control anything. But I am going to tell you now, even though the setting is not what I'd imagined and not what I wanted to give you," pausing Shinichi took a few steadying breaths to calm his shaking hands and nerves.

"I love you, Ran."

"I've liked you for many years and events over the past year have made me discover just how much I care for you."

"I've hated myself because I have made you cry. That was never my intent." Shinichi moved close to a stunned Ran and pulled her into his arms. "I've wanted to hold you for so long now. I found it agonizing to be so far from you."

"I'd never realized how much you were a part of me till you weren't around."

"Shinichi…," Ran said with tears running down her face.

"Yes?"

"I've wanted to hear you say that," she sniffed wrapping her arms around him, "I never thought you'd notice me." Ran scooted next to Shinichi and laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you, too."

Shinichi wrapped his arms around Ran. "I know you are probably angry at me. And I don't blame you but I'd like the chance to make it up to you."

"I'll be mad at you when we go to school tomorrow."

Shinichi chuckled, "If you aren't mad at me tomorrow night would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

Shinichi paused and grinned mischievously, "No, I'm asking you twin sitting right next to you."

"You!" Ran said, smacking Shinichi lightly on the arm.

A few more moments of silence passed. He asked quietly, "Will you?"

"Of course," she said sitting up and giving Shinichi a light peck on the cheek causing both of them to blush.

----------------

Shinichi's return to school the following day not any different from his previously aborted attempt to return to the life he knew. Except for one thing. Ran knew how he felt about her. He skipped a little, she's not even _mad_ at me! I can't wait till tonight, he thought joyfully.

I feel like I'm doing everything that I can to not to go to the top of the building and shout how I feel about her, he thought wirily. I feel like I'm doing everything I can not to got up to every person and telling them I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

A few classmates he passed gave him odd looks. They were trying to figure out the last time they saw Shinichi Kudo wear such a goofy grin and why he would be wearing one.

To avoid the attentions of the school gossipmongers, Shinichi and Ran did not try to dissuade Sonoko from tagging along on the way out of the building. Sonoko dragged Ran off as Shinichi looked at her remembering that they were going out that night.

------------------

Shinichi arrived at the entrance of the hotel. He was taking Ran to Central Kyoto Tower Restaurant, again. (1) Looking at his watch, he realized that he still had ten minutes until she was going to arrive.

Heh, Shinichi laughed to himself, guess I couldn't wait to come.

Shinichi looked up at the sky. He could not see many stars because of the city lights and pollution but still was able to identify the brighter stars. Reflectively, he thought about yesterday afternoon.

I'm glad I told her how I feel. Last time…I was such a coward and beat around the bush…and I paid the price. Shinichi took a deep breath. What's the good saying I've heard when visiting my parents in America? 'There is no time like the present.' I am going to ask her right away tonight. She means so much to me.

A voice broke through his introspection, "What are looking at, Shinichi?"

Looking down, his eyes met Ran's eyes. He smiled at her gently, "I was going to compare you to the sun and stars but you outshine them all."

The word took a few moments to sink into Ran's mind but when they did, she slowly turned a bright red, from her ears to below her collar. She stuttered slightly, "You've, you've been reading Shakespeare or something…"

"Or something," his grin turned rakish. "But I was comparing you and wondering how I got so lucky." That last part is not lie, he thought. I could've died many times this past year.

Still blushing, Ran allowed Shinichi to escort her into the elevator of the hotel. A waiter escorted them to the same table as the last time.

Ran looked at Shinichi with nervousness and hopefulness. She could not help but remember what the waitress had told her the last time she had eaten here with Shinichi. (2) Is, is he going to ask me to…?

"Excuse me, miss?"

Ran started a little. She had been focusing on Shinichi so much that she had not heard the waitress asking for her order. After telling her what she wanted, she turned back to Shinichi.

Shinichi was watching her with a small smile on his face. Ran blushed, as she was so unused to any attention from him. "Wha, what are smiling at?" she asked a little brutally, looking down at her plate.

"I'm just smiling because you are…" Shinichi stopped talking for a moment. Looking up at his face, Ran saw a blush gracing his checks. He cleared his throat, still blushing, he said, rather quickly, "I was smiling because you are looking really pretty tonight."

Now, both Ran and Shinichi sat in silence, blushing because of the unusual communication.

Shinichi shook his head. What am I doing?! I need to be proactive! I need to ask now. He looked up at Ran. Seeing that she was peering up at him through her bangs, he decided that he had better asked before the meal came.

"Uh, Ran?" he said nervously.

Ran looked up at him. "Would you…would you…?" Ran smiled a little bit, seeing he was as nervous as she was. He was as white as a sheet with the only color on his face being the blush on his cheeks. Taking another breath after the false start, he tried asking again. "Ran…would you...would you…," the last part came out as a whisper, "marry me?"

Speaking with more confidence than she felt, Ran asked, "What did you say? I could quite hear what you said."

Standing up abruptly and walking around the table, Shinichi took Ran's hands and asked with more confidence, "Ran, would you marry me?"

Ran sat for a moment, feeling elated that she had just heard something she had only dreamed of in her wildest dreams. Looking into his eyes, she said, "Yes."

When the waitress returned with their food she was greeted by the scene of the young couple embracing each other lovingly.

* * *

(1) Vol. 26 file 5; Shinichi took Ran to this restaurant to tell her something important. Name of restaurant based off of a translation, I'm not entirely sure if it is correct.

(2) Another Vol. 26 reference. I'm not telling! :P

Fluff!! Did you ever think I'd give you fluff? I've never written this kind of fluff before. I did some for a Saint Tail story but it was heavily laced with humor. This is different. Tell me what you think. Did I do it right? Did I lay it on too thick? Give me feedback. (You know you like the chapter you've written when you smile at your own writing. Like I did with this one and 7.)

I just realized that this is the…happiest chapter I've written yet. But it was about time! But don't worry, some of the drama returns next chapter. ;)

Posted: 7-28-04


	14. File 12: Homecoming and Impact

File 12: Homecoming and Impact

* * *

What frustrates us and robs our lives of joy is the absence of meaning. Our lives go on day after day. They may be successful or unsuccessful, full of pleasure or full of worry. But do they mean anything? …Would our disappearance leave the world poorer or just less crowded?

-Rabbi Harold Kushner

What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.

-Author unknown

* * *

Ran walked out of the school after a long, and rather embarrassing, day. All day she and Shinichi had been hounded and grinned at with knowing smiles. After lunch, the two of them discovered that one of the school busybodies had seen them leaving the restaurant together. Ran shook her head as she sighed to herself.

What a day, Ran thought.

Springing up right in front of Ran, Sonoko squealed with a rabid look on her face, "Tell me! Tell me!"

"ACK!" Ran jumped. "Sonoko, you don't have to scare me half to death!" she said watching her friend bounce up and down like a crazed rabbit.

Sonoko, babbling about wanting the all the 'sordid details', grabbed Ran's arm and started to drag her away from the school. The look on her face said that almost nothing would stop her from getting the information she wanted.

"Hey! Sonoko! Where are you taking Ran?" yelled a familiar voice.

Sonoko stopped and turned around to see Shinichi standing a few yards away. "Ohohohohoho," laughed Sonoko. "I'm just going to have some girl talk with Ran. You can't come," she said at his questioning glance.

Shinichi felt helpless in the wake of Sonoko's information collecting warpath as Ran threw back a 'Help me!' look back at him.

Two guys from Shinichi and Ran's class walked up and gave him a hardy thump on the back. "Hey, Kudo-kun. Why don't you tell us about your date last night?" they grinned malevolently.

Giving an 'uh-oh' look, he quickly fabricated a lie, "Uh…sorry, but I need to finish unpacking and getting the house livable. I've been out of town for a while." He comically shot off in the direction of his home but in reality was intending to go to Professor Agasa's home.

Intent was the keyword but that was until he saw three familiar, if seemingly shorter, figures walking towards him. He could hear them arguing about something but they were speaking too fast for him to understand what they were saying. The children didn't notice Shinichi until he was standing right in front of them as they about ran into him.

"Ack!" said Genta, as he came closest to barreling into Shinichi, due to his greater mass in relation to his friends.

The three of them yelled in surprise "Shinichi-niisan!" slightly out of sync with each other. Relative silence reigned for a few moments before Genta abruptly asked, "When'd did'ja get back?" Grinning slyly he added, "Did Ran-neechan beat you up like I heard her say she would when you came back?"

Feeling relived that Ran had not carried through with that threat, Shinichi replied, "She didn't and…two days ago. So…where are you going?"

Looking somewhat down Ayumi answered, "Well, we were going to get Ai-chan to play but she and the professor aren't home."

Well, I guess I won't be visiting the professor for a while, Shinichi thought, murmuring sympathetically to the kids.

Mitsuhiko picked up for Ayumi. "We're looking for a haunted house. And we wanted to see if she wanted to come, right?" he said turning he looked at his friends for confirmation. Nodding they agreed.

"But…," added Ayumi sadly, scuffing a foot on the ground, "we don't know where any close ones are."

"Hmmm," said Shinichi, thoughtfully.

The three children looked hopefully at there 'niisan' with begging puppy eyes, wanting to know what he was thinking. He appeared be considering something.

Heh, he laughed internally, bet they'd love to go to my house…they thought it I _was_ haunted a while ago. Speaking he told them, "I don't know where any haunted houses are but if you want you can come to my house."

"Cool!" said Genta. "Where do ya live?"

Evasively, Shinichi said, "Really close to the professor's."

"Awww man…that means we haftta go back," grumbled Genta kicking a pebble that was on the ground.

Shinichi walked slower than usual so the Detective Boys would not be left behind. He remembered all too well having to walk quickly to keep up with adults who did not realize how fast they walked.

"What's your house like?" asked Mitsuhiko curiously.

"Well, it's pretty big…it has a library…um, and all the other things normal houses have. It's also pretty empty because it's just me living there."

"Do you have good science books?" Mitsuhiko inquired.

"Some, but most of them are probably over your head," Shinichi said absent-mindedly.

"How boring," said Genta. "I'd rather have food."

"I'm sure you would," Shinichi muttered under his breath.

"What'd you say?" asked Genta.

Thinking quickly, Shinichi said, "I was just wondering to myself how you guys are doing?"

Genta and Mitsuhiko looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Ayumi looked up at Shinichi and asked in a puzzled voice, "Doing? What do you mean, Shinichi-niisan?"

Oops, thought Shinichi sarcastically, why don't I go from creating one problem for myself to another? "Uh…nothing. I'm not really thinking about what I'm saying."

By now they had just passed the professor's house and were coming up to walled and gated home of Shinichi Kudo. Shinichi paused at the gate to unlock. Walking into the yard, he felt that he was alone. Looking behind, he saw that Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi were standing in the entrance with surprise written on their faces and a little nervousness.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Looking at each other, the boys laughing nervously, and Ayumi looking a little embarrassed, they said in unison, "Nothing."

Shinichi knew they were remembering the time they thought that _his_ house was haunted and _he_ was haunting it. Grinning deviously, he said, "It's alright to come in. It's not like the house is haunted or anything." Watching their embarrassed movements and expressions, he knew he had hit the mark.

Turning away, he saw the surprise and embarrassment change to sadness. Shinichi immediately turned back around and walked to them. He knelt in front of them and put a comforting hand on Ayumi's shoulder because she was the saddest looking.

"What's wrong?" Shinichi asked.

Ayumi sniffed a little. She looked at Shinichi but could not say anything. Shinichi carefully lead the three children into the house even though they had not said anything. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a four glasses and a pitcher of lemonade and returned to the living room where he had them sit.

Sitting down opposite, he poured lemonade into each glass and handed one to each child in silence. He gave them a few minutes to drink their lemonade and to calm down. Then he asked again.

"What's wrong?"

Mitsuhiko took the lead, feeling that since he was the most scientific he could offer the most logical explanation. "One time, after we found a house that wasn't really haunted, we kinda came over here. Only Conan-kun didn't want to come. He thought it was stupid or something."

"Yeah," agreed Genta.

Awww crap! Shinichi thought, grimacing. I completely forgot about that staying here might make them think of Conan. All I've done is bring up unhappy memories.

Silence reigned in the room for a few minutes while Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta began to look a little less sad, which they then began looking around the room. Shinichi could see curiosity beginning to glow in there eyes.

"So…," he said getting their attention, "Would you like to look around?"

"Yep!" they said all nodding enthusiastically.

Wandering around on the first floor the Detective Boys showed off their detecting prowess by making good observations. Some observations were a little to close for comfort for Shinichi. In the kitchen, Genta, being the tallest, noticed that there was a lot of trash in the trashcan for someone who had only been there two or so days.

Shinichi, looking desperately for a good excuse, said, "The professor kinda knew I was coming back and as a joke he'd thought it would be funny to dump some of his trash here."

In the laundry room, Ayumi noticed that there was too much laundry if he had done it when he had gotten back and too little if he had not done the laundry yet.

This time, he said, managing to look embarrassed, "Uh…well…you see…I kind of ran out of…underwear only a couple of days before I was going to come back so I did a lot of laundry then."

Accepting these answers, the children moved on to other rooms and the upstairs. After about another hour they said they had to go home.

"Thank you for showing us around, Shinichi-niisan," Ayumi said happily.

"You're pretty cool," added Genta.

Mitsuhiko, with an armful of books, said, "Thank you for letting me borrow these science books."

"No problem," Shinichi said as he walked them to the door. He watched Mitsuhiko closely to make sure he could actually _carry_ the books he was borrowing. Satisfied he could manage he asked the question that had been bugging him since the Detective Boys showed off their observational skills.

"How'd you figure all that stuff, like the garbage and laundry?"

"Well…," Ayumi paused to think, "I just thought to myself 'what would Conan-kun notice?' and I watch my mom do laundry a lot."

Genta said, "My mom's always complaining about how the trash always fills up like magic in only a couple of days and your trashcan is _really_ full." Genta muttered to himself, but his muttering is much like normal speech so everyone heard, "And I was thinking the same thing as Ayumi about Conan-kun."

Grinning to himself, Shinichi told them they could come by again sometime and they were welcome to share their observations with him.

-----------------------

Shinichi and Ran walked to Shinichi's house after school the next day. They were both blushing slightly. Ran was blushing because Shinichi was holding her hand, in public. Shinichi was blushing because Ran was letting him hold her hand.

Quietly, so no one had the chance to overhear, Ran said, "I'm glad nobody knows you proposed to me, otherwise I'd never hear the end of it."

"Heh," Shinichi laughed nervously.

As the pair walked along the sidewalk, they heard a car slow down and almost stop right next to them, looking over at the car, they saw the grinning face of Inspector Megure through the now open window. "Good afternoon, Kudo-kun, Ran-kun!" Megure said.

"Good afternoon, Inspector," said Shinichi. Ran bobbed her head in a greeting.

Shinichi and Ran shifted nervously because Megure was smiling at them oddly. "What's up?" Shinichi asked, hoping to find out.

Megure nodded his head at their hands. They quickly let go when they realized they were still holding hands. Megure's grin dropped from his face as he remembered why he wanted to talk to Shinichi.

"Ah, Kudo-kun?" he said, "Could you come down to the station in the next couple of days? I have some questions I'd like to clear up about a couple of the cases you've helped on."

Shinichi, glad that Megure was no longer paying attention to the growing relationship between himself and Ran, readily agreed to come in the next afternoon.

----------------------

The following day, Shinichi carried through with his word, arriving at the police station after school. Walking through the doors, he was greeted by nearly every officer in the room. Internally he was shifting uncomfortably. He was not used to the attention being showered on him.

Thinking to himself, sure is a change from the attention I receive when I was Conan. That attention was for a bright boy, not a respected young man.

Intending to go to Megure's office, he began the tortuous process of wading through the officers exuberant greetings. Finally breaking away as he made it to the hall, he was sidetracked by a sad looking Takagi and a concerned Sato.

Getting their attention, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's the case involving Conan-kun and Mouri-san," Takagi said dejectedly. "It's so frustrating. We can't seem to go anywhere with the investigation. It's at a dead end."

Sato looked at Shinichi, remembering his relationship to both parties and his deductive skills, decided to tell him some detail though doing so was not quite by the book. "It's not that we don't have clues. It's more like…who ever is responsible is so elusive. We have almost no information on those responsible."

Takagi spoke next, "This case, in some ways, would be better handled by the Federal (1) investigators but…I don't think they know much, either. The people, we do know it probably is more than one individual, operate completely differently than any Japanese criminal or organization that we've hunted for. Another organization, like the FBI could handle this case better."

Shinichi felt very awkward. Should I tell them what I know? I don't know how much it would help them. I guess I could tell them it's the same group that drove me into hiding for the past year or so. "Ah…well…I know a bit about the group you are talking about," Shinichi said quietly.

"You do?" he heard a voice say with surprise and urgency behind him. Turning, he saw Inspector Megure.

"Yeah…but I don't know if the information will help you at all." The four of them moved into Megure's office. "I am fairly certain the people responsible are part of an international crime syndicate. I saw a couple of there…operatives making a transaction last year. They saw me and I've spent the last year hiding and finding out more about them. Actually, they tried to kill me but didn't quite succeed. I didn't want my involvement in the cases over the past year to be known because I didn't want them to know I was okay."

"Oh my god…" Takagi said breathlessly.

"Why didn't you say anything," Megure almost whispered still in shock from the information he had learned.

"Pride. I wanted to take care of things myself. Only it's too big for any small group."

Sato looked thoughtful, "International…we could put inquiries into Interpol and maybe the FBI."

Megure shook Shinichi's hand enthusiastically. "Thank you so much, Kudo-kun. What you just told us is a tremendous help." He then looked more serious, "If you ever need help, come to us. You've helped us many times."

"Thanks, Inspector." Shinichi added, "Could you keep my name or involvement out of things? I'm still trying to keep a low profile."

"No problem, Kudo-kun."

Shinichi left the station after looking over some of the information. He looked back at the station and shook his head.

Guess that wasn't the smartest thing I could've done. Cops gossips as much as high school girls.

----------------------

The next day, Shinichi accompanied Ran into the hospital. His analytical mind was working out each problem afflicting the patients in the waiting room. He absentmindedly signed in on the visitor list, unconsciously acknowledging the recognition of his name from the nurse that was on duty and then wincing from it when he remembered he was trying to keep a low profile. He followed a silent Ran down the hall after disembarking from the elevator on the twenty-first floor.

Ran knocked on a door and said, "Hey, dad, it's me and Shinichi."

Shinichi and Ran could hear muffled mumbling and a women's voice shushing the muttering. Entering the room, Ran and Shinichi found Eri sitting with her husband.

She stood and turned to Kogoro and said, "Remember what I told you." Then she gave Ran a hug and greeted Shinichi as she left. Probably has a trial to attend, Shinichi thought.

"Hi dad," Ran said going up to her father and carefully hugging him.

He grumbled, "I'm not going to fall apart if you hug me a little harder."

"Dad…it's hard to give you a proper hug with that back brace on."

"Oh…heh heh," Kogoro laughed feeling abashed. He turned and glared at Shinichi. Ran admonished him, "Daaaaaaaad…don't glare at Shinichi. He only got back a couple of days ago. Besides, we aren't staying long. I just wanted to see how you were."

"Fine," he grunted.

"Well, your feeling well enough to be a pain, so I can leave," Ran said, turning and walking towards the door.

Shinichi turned to follow Ran when he heard Kogoro say, "Kudo, I need to tell you something."

Shinichi motioned for Ran to go on ahead to the elevator, "Yeah?"

Looking as if what he was about to say was extremely painful, Kogoro said, "I want you to look out for yourself, boy."

Shinichi gaped at Kogoro almost not believing what he was hearing.

"If something happened to you Ran would be very hurt. Even worse than when the bra…Conan-kun died."

Feeling a new kind of respect for Kogoro, Shinichi replied, "I intend to. And I'll look out for Ran, too."

"Good," was Kogoro's grim answer as Shinichi turned and left the room.

* * *

(1) I have no idea if there is a Japanese FBI. But I'm fairly certain they have something like it.

This was longer than I intended it to be. Oh well, that's the way things are sometimes. Always remember that I am looking for constructive criticism. I want to become a better writer and I can only do that if people tell me what I'm doing right or wrong and what I could do better.

I hate to admit that I'm losing my enthusiasm for this story but I am going to finish it on time. There are 3 chapters left. One is complete, waiting to be revised. Another is mostly done and the last chapter has hardly been worked on. Because I'll be moving back to school during that week the that the last chapter is supposed to go up, it may be up to a two week break between 14 and 15.

Posted: 8-4-04


	15. File 13: Sources of Trouble

File 13: Sources of Trouble

* * *

For life in the present, there is no death. Death is not an event in life. It is not a fact in the world. 

-Wittgenstein

* * *

Shinichi moved quickly to catch up with Ran after the talk with her father. He ignored social customs and Ran's weak protests when as he wrapped an arm around her waist, earning stares from people on the sidewalk. Together, they walked over to the bus stop to wait for the next bus to Beika. 

One of those who saw Shinichi walk from the hospital casually drew out a cell phone. He carefully snapped a picture and saved it to an e-mail. He dialed in an unusually long phone number, punching in a code or password after that. Bringing the phone up to speak, he said, "4521 reporting at 1836 hours. Daughter has left hospital with an unidentified male that she entered with. I'm sending a photo for identification immediately. I will report again when my shift is over."

Hanging up his phone, he brought back up the newspaper he had been 'reading' and continued to watch for certain people out of the corner of his eye.

--------------

A whippy, thin man walked down a hall, his footsteps echoing down the bare corridor. As he proceeded he passed doors oddly spaced along the hall. The doors varied from clear doors like sliding glass doors revealing their occupants working diligently to doors that were barred or steel barriers and could only be opened by the proper code on the keypad next to it. From these rooms, one might occasionally hear thumping to muffled yelling.

The figure sniffed when he heard a muffled, but not completely 'Please…let me out! PLEASE!' as he walked by one of these rooms.

Another item to bring up. Better sound proofing, the person thought critically.

The man walked up to a seemingly random door. A keycard was pulled out of a pocket and was slid quickly through a slot like those for swiping credit cards. Fingers flew across the keypad, punching in a long code of random numbers. There was a beep and a click. Reaching out a hand the person pushed on the handle, causing the door to swing into a sparsely decorated room. All the room held was a round table with swiveling chairs placed around it.

The thin man sat in one of these chairs. Closer inspection showed that only a few chairs were occupied. The others had an odd placeholder for the empty chairs. Placed on the table, there was a TV and a camera on a movable base placed on top of the TV. A few of the fluorescent lights that are so common to large buildings flickered to brighter light, indicating that they had not been on long. A quick look at the clock on the wall showed the local time to be 2:58 a.m. The four people in the room sat in silence, the only sound in the room coming from the static on the TV's. As the clock's time flipped over to 2:59 a.m., two of the TV's flickered on and faces slowly appeared on the screens.

The faces on the screens asked for confirmation that they could be seen and heard. Affirmatives were given by those seated at the table as the rest of the TVs came to life. The same actions were preformed by all those people. The last TV came to life as the time changed over to 3:00 a.m.

One of the people on the TV looked around the room, the camera panning to look at each member, his closed-circuit system showing the other members that were not present in the room.

Finally, he began to speak in a deceptive tone that sounded amicable, "I'm glad to see that everyone is present for this meeting despite the late hour for some of you."

"Before we move onto the major points of this meeting, I'd like to address any concerns or thoughts you might have," he said, his tone indicating that he already knew what they were going to bring up, " I'm afraid we won't get to them if we save them for later."

Many 'small' matters were brought up, such as, soundproofing, funding for specific research, and general reconnaissance information. Once the 'little' matters had been squared away, the speaker moved onto the topic he really wanted to talk about.

"I have heard some disturbing reports of late from our Japanese base of operations. First the failure of Vermouth and her operatives to apprehend Sherry (1) and now the failure to properly dispose of Mouri," he paused, allowing his displeasure to radiate to all those at the meeting. "In addition, Shinichi Kudo has been confirmed alive after our records have stated he's been dead for around a year. Recent actions have gotten the attention of the police and government agencies has been attracted. This is unacceptable."

One of the members mentally shifted uncomfortably at his words, knowing that they were directed at her. However, her expression remained unchanged from its politely interested expression.

Somehow, the speaker seemed to turn and look straight into the woman's eyes. "We do not appreciate information being withheld and our organization demands results. You were aware of this when you joined," coolly he inspected a glass of wine he held, "You have one more chance to kill Sherry and to get Shinichi Kudo out of the way and to deliver us all the files and information you and the operatives under your control have gathered." He looked back at her, taking his eyes from the red wine, a small vicious smirk at the corner of his lips, "Failure with these directives _will_ result in your…termination from our organization."

A few moments of oppressive silence past in the room before she spoke. "Understood."

The amicable façade dropped back down over his face as he said, "Well then, that concludes this meeting." His screen flicked back to the static it had before the meeting started. The other screens followed in quick succession.

Those seated at the table slowly turned their eyes towards the woman. She still sat at the table. Her calm face did not show the inner turmoil and anger that was raging through her mind. She stood and gave a polite bow to those around her and left the room with out a word.

The remaining people stood and left the room. The thin man who seemed to handle technical aspects within the organization was the last to stand. Walking to a switch on the wall opposite from the door, he flipped it, shutting down the equipment in the room. He turned off the lights, so only the emergency lights glowed dimly, as he left the room and secured the door.

------------------

Chris Vineyard, a.k.a. Vermouth, sat on a leather recliner peering out of her high-rise apartment window at the city nightscape. She carefully swirled the red wine in her glass. Bringing the glass to her face, she delicately sniffed the rich aroma released by the swirling action. With a satisfied smile, she sipped the wine. She looked down at the cars zipping from stoplight to stoplight and the pedestrians strolling down the high-class street. She gracefully stood up after throwing a careless glance at the clock on the lamp stand.

She walked into her bathroom, shrugging off her clothing, coming to a stop in front of her elaborate vanity. Hanging on a hook on the bathroom door was an outfit for a slightly overweight man. Standing in front of her mirror, she pulled on a lightweight yet sturdy vest. With practiced and efficient movements, she began to apply make-up to a mask she had pulled over her face. Within ten minutes, the beautiful face of the actress was transformed into a face of a middle-aged, balding man. The vest inflated as she pulled a cord on it. Turning to the door, she pulled on the clothes, adjusting things here and there until there was a sloppily dressed, middle-aged salaryman standing in the high-class bathroom.

Walking with a tired gait, the man picked up a brief case and slipped out of the apartment, taking the stairs down to avoid the notice of the other tenants. Exiting out of a side door, he made his way to a bus stop where he boarded a bus headed toward the docks.

He got off with a bunch of other workers that were headed toward a bar. Clandestinely leaving the group, he headed off to a poorly lit but secure warehouse. He entered the warehouse and walked to a little office in the back of the building. He entered the office and calmly greeted the two other men there.

The three interacted like dance partners who knew each other's moves and what to expect from their partner. The two men in black shifted warily, knowing that the 'middle-aged man' liked to pull unexpected stunts and pranks to test them from time to time.

Finally, 'he' spoke in a properly deep voice that slipped into a more feminine voice as the speaker progressed, "I suppose you've heard our new orders already?"

The shorter of the two, and frequently the brawn of the pair, grunted, "Just the gist. Don't know the whole set of orders."

The other man, with long blonde hair, lit a cigarette, leaned back in his chair, and took a drag before he picked up where his partner left off. "Why don't you tell us everything about the orders. That way there'll be no misunderstanding."

Pulling out her own pack of cigarettes, she lit one for herself. "Kill Sherry and get Shinichi Kudo out of the way."

"WHAT?" snapped the brawn. "I thought we confirmed recently that we killed him last year."

Shrugging as if it was no real concern, she said, "He was spotted coming out of a hospital with Angel (2) after visiting her father. Apparently, he's not as dead was we thought."

The cold-eyed, blonde-haired man asked, "What sort of plan are you proposing?"

A sharp and cunning smile formed on his face, which was out of place on the face of a middle-aged man. "We follow his movements and we use his noble nature to trap him, Gin."

A similar smile formed on Gin's face as he turned to the other man and said, "Looks like we get to stick around this time to finish the detective off, Vodka."

Nodding in agreement, Vodka said, "We should've just shot him when we had the chance. But we can do things right this time, aniki (3)."

Somehow, the mask of the middle-aged man disappeared without being removed and the true character came though. She said, "It has to be done right this time. There are no second chances."

Gin and Vodka nodded in understanding. They knew that the price for failure would be death, whether by the organization's hand or by another.

* * *

(1) Vol. 42. This is a very cool case. Some of you know what I'm talking about. There are also certain facts that people who know recent events will know how they fit into things. I'm not going to explain them, like how Vermouth knows who and where Sherry is. 

(2) A code name that's used for Ran by certain people. (That's a spoiler!)

(3) Aniki means something like older brother. Vodka calls Gin that, though I don't think they're related. I think its honorary.

It's a bit tricky writing about the Organization. Not much is known about them. I'm going to try and make little update notes about stories on my live journal. You can get there via my profile.

Since doesn't do paragraph indentions anymore, I've tird to jimmy (Jimmy, ha HA!) the way I type so there are indentations but it doesn't seem to work.

I wish I had a beta-reader. One of my friends was going to but she is so sloooooooow at reading. So...I try to catch mistakes when I revise and I do catch a lot.

Two chapters left! :-)

Posted: 8-11-04


	16. File 14: Target

File 14: Target

* * *

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

-_Foundation_, Isaac Asimov

* * *

A dark, non-descript car sat in the shadow of a large building, protected from the early afternoon sunshine. Seated inside the car with the front windows rolled down, Vodka watched the entrance of a hospital. Shifting, he drew out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. Vodka took a long drag, shifting restlessly in the non air-conditioned car from the unseasonably warm air.

Earning odd stares for his long black trench coat in the warm weather, Vodka's 'brother', Gin walked toward the vehicle. He was carrying a couple of bottles of cold water. Gin climbed in the passenger side door and fished out his own pack of cigarettes. Absentmindedly, he lit the cigarette and looked off in the direction Vodka was looking.

Vodka turned to Gin and smirked knowingly, "Aniki…he arrived with the girl and then left after she did. Do you think he's talking to that guy after she leaves?"

Coolly, Gin answered, "The agent in the building says that _is_ what they do. Makes things a little easier for us if no one expects him at a certain time after the visit."

Vodka nodded in return. He started up the car and moved into traffic, since they had completed surveillance for the day.

-----------------

It was a bright and sunny afternoon, only a few days after the exchange between Gin and Vodka. Shinichi stepped off the bus in the Tokyo Central Hospital District and was reduced to squinting from the reflective glare of the buildings. He moved with down the sidewalk quickly. He could hear Ran behind him, berating him for not waiting for her.

I do want to, but it's not a good idea to spend too much time outside, he thought. I just can't believe I promised Mouri-san that I'd escort Ran here everyday she wants to go. Then he wants me to stay after to talk about case on Conan and himself! Escorting her should be done both ways. I wonder if I can make him understand that. …He does seem more…what's a good word for it? …Intelligent? Thoughtful? Logical? Yeah, logical sounds about right. He's not jumping to conclusions so easily. Thank goodness for that mercy.

Ran and Shinichi walked into the hospital together, as they did a couple times a week for the past two weeks. The desk nurse, who knew them very well by now, waved them through and put their names down in the registrar. They headed up to the floor Kogoro was on, knowing where it was very well by now.

They were greeted upon entry to the room with a, "Hi, Ran," and a "Boy." Shinichi glared a little bit at Kogoro as Kogoro returned the favor.

"Daaaaad…Shinichiiiiiiii…can you two act anymore childish. You do this every time we come to visit," Ran groaned with exasperation.

Shinichi put a hand on her shoulder, "Its okay, Ran. That's just how we like to greet each other. We don't mean anything by it." Shinichi threw a meaningful look at Kogoro to which Kogoro agreed, "He's right about that."

Ran pulled a chair up to the hospital bed and sat down. Then she proceeded to tell her father about the mundane things that had happened since her last visit. Shinichi walked over to the window where he stared out at nothing, waiting for Ran and her father to finish talking.

Shinichi snapped out of his unfocused staring when he heard Ran say, "Bye, dad." Ran came up to Shinichi and gave him a quick hug. Kogoro gave Shinichi a suspicious look but did not say anything as Ran left the room.

Ran knew that her father wanted updates on the case about Conan and how she was doing. She only knew the second piece of information because she had cornered Shinichi and 'persuaded' him to tell via her fist to a brick wall.

Shinichi sat in the chair that Ran had formerly occupied, waiting for the day's 'after Ran leaves' talk. Instead, this time, Kogoro waved him off.

"Kudo, I do want to talk to you but if things haven't changed from our last discussion, you can go. "Besides," he said, indicating the pretty young nurse, "I think its time for another complete checkup."

Heh, Shinichi thought, I'm _sure_ you need one. He shook his head, "No, change. But if there is I'll let you know." I might be able to go back on the same bus with Ran if I hurry! Shinichi mentally cheered.

Kogoro shifted a little bit uncomfortably as the nurse came over to help him into the wheelchair. "I wasn't thinking earlier but it'd probably be a better idea if you escorted Ran to and _from_ the hospital, not just to." Shinichi stood frozen on the threshold, almost unable to believe that he was hearing Kogoro echo what he had been thinking earlier that day.

Noticing that the teenager had stopped, Kogoro snapped, "What are you waiting for, boy? Go!"

Shinichi scooted out of the door very quickly, compelled by Kogoro's words. He could hear the nurse talking to Kogoro in a voice that was clear at first and then faded away, "Today we are going to do a full check- up and if all is progressing as it should we'll start you on a regime of physical therapy. The therapy is designed to stop your muscles from atrophying. But it is also designed not to pu...ny…"

Shinichi signed out on the guest registrar and hurried down the steps. He was in time to see the bus back to Beika take in its passengers, including Ran, and leave. Silently cursing his luck, he decided to walk around the area until the next bus, which, fortunately for him, would come in about half an hour. Crossing the street, he casually strolled along thinking about nothing in particular. He was simply enjoying the nice weather, not even really paying attention to his surrounding…which was almost unlike the high school detective.

Shinichi sighed and thought, It is nice to get out of the house. Keeping a low profile sucks. I probably shouldn't come here as much as I have but I promised Ran's dad I would come with her.

For a few blocks, Shinichi walked along in his contemplative haze. Finally, he refocused on his surroundings and noticed that he had moved into an area that was in the midst of redevelopment. He looked at the reflective glass of a complete but not opened office building, only to end up nearly doing a double take. Shinichi forcefully stopped himself from whipping around for a good look. Instead, he tried to casually look at the reflection in the window.

It cast the cold, predatory grin of a person he wished he had never met. The reflection of Gin looked straight into the eyes of his own reflection. Shinichi started a little and tried to _slowly_ walk yet _quickly_ away. He whipped around a corner onto an empty street. Breaking into a run, he quickly shot past two alleys before turning into the third. Slowing down to a jog, he moved behind a dumpster. Noting a conveniently sized indention hidden in the shadows of the building, he placed himself into it.

He squeezed himself into the space trying to make himself as small as possible, as if trying to become one with the wall. His breaths came in quick and shallow gulps. He swallowed and forced himself to take slow deep breaths.

Wouldn't do to pass out, he thought. I swear…my heartbeat must be echoing up and down the alley.

Despite his slow deep breaths, Shinichi could hardly hear anything beyond his pounding heart.

Shinichi froze, holding his breath, when he heard two sets of heavy footsteps echo for a moment up and down the alley, only daring to breathe again when the footsteps had past. Shinichi continued to stand in the niche for over ten minutes, not moving because of the fear he felt. After another ten minutes of silence, only punctuated by the occasional car driving by, did he shifted from his spot and made his way cautiously down the alley.

Shinichi looked in the direction he had heard the footsteps go and saw no one. Looking in the other direction, he noticed the reason why he had only heard a few vehicles pass. There was a construction barricade set up, allowing only construction vehicles to use the road.

Even through his adrenaline-filled body, he realized that he must have missed the barricade in his panic to get away from Gin and Vodka. Shinichi whipped around as he heard some low voices carry softly down the empty road. Just thirty feet away, Gin and Vodka rounded the corner, coming back the way they originally came.

For a long moment, they stared at each other. Gin broke the stalemate by smirking and pulling out his gun. Shinichi gasped, drawing back into the alley just as the gun was fired. Pieces of brick pelted him as the bullet hit the wall.

Shinichi was running down the alley as fast as he could. Gin and Vodka ran hard to catch up, both firing at Shinichi as they came to the entrance of the alley. Thought the shots went astray, Shinichi instinctively ducked which caused him to slow his pace. Unfortunately, this allowed Gin and Vodka to close the gap.

Shinichi took a moment to look back and nearly tripped when he realized that they were not as far away as they thought. I'd better lead them away from other people, Shinichi thought, his mental voice sounding a little tired.

He continued to run as he headed deeper into the construction and redevelopment. The only people in the area were construction personnel and non of them working near by.

Shinichi ducked and yelped at the same time as a bullet ricocheted off the corrugated steel wall a few feet from his head. Turning at a corner, he ran in a full out sprint, breathing heavily from the physical exertion. He slipped behind a concrete wall, he paused to catch his breath.

Trying to silence his heavy breathing, he thought, I think…I think I've got them far enough from other people, so they don't hurt any innocent bystanders.

Suddenly, his breath hitched in his chest and he was unable to refrain from a couple of wheezing coughs. Panicking, he thought, What if that's what they wanted? What if they wanted to get me away from people so their wouldn't be any witnesses? DAMNIT! It I'd stayed where there were people they would have to back off! They can kill me with no problem now!

Shinichi stood frozen, not knowing what to do. He unable to hear anyone approach over his labored breathing. All Shinichi could do was to try to pull his thoughts together and use what he knew to survive.

-----------------

On the fringes of the construction, one of the construction workers lifted up his head in puzzlement. He turned to his partner and signaled for him to stop working for a minute. He asked his partner, "Did'ja hear that funny sound?"

His partner looked at him in puzzlement and cocked his head listening carefully. His face paled slightly at a sound as his partner spoke up again, "There is goes again. What is it?" He looked at his partner and the question of asking if they should go check it out died on his lips. "What is it?" he asked again.

The other man shut off their equipment and walked quickly in the direction of their supervisor. He told his observant partner, "I'm pretty sure that was a gun shot. We gotta call the cops."

His partner nodded in agreement. They had worked together for ten years and had learned that they could trust each other's judgment without question.

-----------------

Meanwhile, Shinichi managed to pull himself together and then began to think about Gin and Vodka's modus operandi (1). Shinichi stole a quick glance around his concrete barrier and nearly fell back into the panic that had seized him earlier. The pair was only fifteen feet away with Vodka leading the way and Gin hanging back about five feet. They checked every nook and cranny as they walked along. Looking around quickly, his eyes fell upon a cut off piece of rebar (2). He grabbed the rebar and crouched close to the edge of the wall, waiting.

Vodka walked past the wall, his eyes looking in the opposite direction at that moment. Shinichi brought down the rebar on Vodka's black-hatted head. Vodka collapsed like a sack of potatoes.

Shinichi used the concrete wall like a starter's block and propelled himself forward in another full out sprint, not waiting to see the result of hitting Vodka. He could hear rapid running behind him. Gin did not even pause to check and see if Vodka was alive.

Shinichi threw a glance back, to see how far behind Gin was. His only other thought than trying to stay alive was, How can he be so cold? Shinichi physically paled at the murderous expression on Gin's face but did not pause or slow down. He rounded yet another corner and ran a little ways down before stopping and turning around. He moved his arm back, ready to throw the rebar.

As Gin came around the corner, Shinichi launched the rebar. The spinning bar flew with adrenaline-induced accuracy and stabbed the arm that Gin carried his gun in. The bar had too much weight to stay in Gin's arm and fell out, leaving a heavily bleeding wound. However, Gin still did not relinquish his hold on the weapon.

Shinichi started at Gin in horror and whispered, "How? He can't be human."

Gin looked straight at Shinichi, with death in his eyes, and began to move deliberately towards him. Shinichi broke out of his horrified shock and began to run again.

He ran as fast as he could push his tired body, until he spotted a dead end coming up. Shinichi looked around for a way out with growing panic. He had made the mistake of running down to what amounted to being a corridor without any unlocked doors. The possible escape routes along the partially completed buildings on either side would slow him down, making him an easy target.

In a too short of period, Shinichi reached the end of the corridor. He skidded almost to a complete halt when he saw that the corridor between the buildings went off in two directions like a 'T' intersection of a road. One way lead to a public road. Hope flared inside him. He thought, If I can make it back to where people are I might just be okay!

Shinichi moved to run that way but fell back in surprised as a bullet flew just inches in front of his nose. Shinichi turned to find Gin standing only a dozen feet from him.

Gin leveled his gun at Shinichi's head. He wore a victorious grin, completely ignoring any pain from his bleeding gun arm.

Shinichi stood up, back up against the wall, breathing heavily. Sweat trickled down his hot back relentlessly. He looked up and stared defiantly at Gin. The whole scene sent a wave of deja vu through his mind, as he half remembered one of his fevered dreams.

Gin spoke, his voice gravely from pain and lack of breath, "You've lead us on a long chase but it ends here. No one will be able to solve the murder of Shinichi Kudo!" And, as if reenacting the dream, Gin said, "Die, Detective." Shinichi watched, frozen to the ground, waiting for the bullet to rip through his body.

Unable to close his eyes even in fear, Shinichi thought, I'm so sorry, Ran. So sorry. It looks like I _will_ be leaving you. I'm sorry.

However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a faint movement where there should be none. Focusing behind Gin, he saw a uniformed police officer, his gun out and ready. The officer and others like him moved out quickly from the spaces he was unable to use to escape Gin and from both sides of the 'T'.

"Put down your gun. And step away from it with your hands in the air," the officer ordered.

Gin glanced left and right seeing at least four other officers had stepped out of the shadows, their guns out and pointed at him. He placed his gun on the ground, as if he intended to all along, and took a few confident steps away from the gun. He was smirking slightly as they handcuffed him and lead him away.

Shinichi slid down the wall, and slumped in relief and shock. He nodded numbly at whatever the officer kneeling beside his was saying, not really listening. He looked left at the street in time to see three police cars drive off. The middle car was escorted by the cars in front and behind. As the middle car pulled past, he made brief eye contact with Gin, who was seated in the back seat. The expression on Gin's face said 'you haven't won completely.'

Seconds after the cars had past, he heard the screeching of breaks. Snapping out of his stupor, he stood and walked sluggishly around the corner with an officer tailing him. He saw all three police cars stopped and all the officers swarming around the middle car.

---------------------

Gin smirked as he was lead away but inside he was seething. We've failed this last mission. Hmph. There's no room for failures in the organization. At least they won't find out anything from our lips. Dead men tell no tales.

The officer leading him patted him down before putting him in the patrol car with an alive but unconscious Vodka. Gin reached into his trench coat's pocket and pulled out a non-descript pill. He moved carefully to not attract the attention of the officers in the front seat. He reached into Vodka's coat and pulled out an identical pill. Gin put it into Vodka's mouth and forced him to chew it. Reflexes caused Vodka to swallow some of it.

Gin moved back to a comfortable position in his seat, took his own pill, and swallowed the bitter pill dry.

The car started forward and drove past where Shinichi sat. Looking, he made eye contact with Shinichi and gave him a look to show that he had not won, as his vision quickly began to fade to blackness.

Gurgling slightly at the pain and chemical reactions taking place in his body, Gin collapsed against the seat in front of him. The two officers looked back and saw their prisoners foaming at the mouths and not breathing. Radioing the other cars, they stopped and moved quickly to try to stop the prisoners from dying. But it was too late for the police to stop the poison from killing Gin and Vodka.

-----------------

Shinichi stood at the corner watching to police move with somewhat frantic movements.

Thinking out loud, he whispered, "What's going on?" Moving quicker now that he had thrown off his shocked stupor, he moved down the sidewalk. Shinichi completely ignored the officer who was asking him to not enter scene.

Shinichi stopped when he was about ten feet from the middle car. He could overhear the officers talking.

"They're both dead." Suicide in this one's case."

"It looks like he force fed this guy poison and then took it himself."

"Only information we're going to get about these two is from the autopsies and the kid's testimony."

Dead? Gin killed Vodka? Shinichi wondered. That's what that look he gave me meant.

Feeling a tremendous sense of relief from the elimination of a threat to his life, Shinichi nearly collapsed from relief. Turning to the officer who had followed him, he asked, "What were you asking earlier? I wasn't really listening."

The officer made a slightly disgruntled sound before he spoke, "I was asking you to stand back but you didn't seen to notice. Would you come down to the station to give a statement?"

"Yeah, sure. But could you call Inspector Megure over? He's with the Beika precinct. I've already told some about these two."

The officer looked startled but answered, "I can do that. Please come this way," he motioned toward the passenger seat of a squad car.

* * *

(1) From Latin. Literally means 'method or mode of operation.' It is used to mean the way a person does something.

(2) Rebar is long metal bars used in the construction of concrete buildings, pillars and roads to increase the strength. Is about ½ an inch thick and is reminiscent of a screw with the way the a groove threads around it.

I love that quote. I have to say, the grand scale of the Foundation Trilogy is awesome. If I am going to recommend any sci-fi book(s), I recommend them. It's surprisingly easy to read and has some revolutionary ideas with a nice hint of mystery.

I'm not entirely sure when the last chapter will go up, probably in about 2 weeks. No guarantees, though. I've been working on a timeline of events in the story. Will go up on my homepage sometime after the story is done.

Thanks to Ooshii Kurai for beta-reading this chapter.

Posted: 8-19-04


	17. File 15: Aftermath and Conclusions

Without further ado (though a week later than I intended and any minor mistakes are due to the fact that I'm editing this in a hurry), the final chapter.

* * *

File 15: Aftermath and Conclusions

* * *

_God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another._

Meditation 17 by John Donne

* * *

A common white van sat on a street of a residential area in Beika. In the back of the vehicle, a classy-looking blonde woman sat watching some TV screens. . The rough work clothes she wore, contrasted with her hair and face. To her right, a neglected cigarette slowly burned down in an ashtray. There was the misshapen mask of a thin man on her left. Her left ear held an earphone, and she listened to what a casual observer would have thought was a game or radio program.

Listening to the bug she had planted on Vodka, she followed the sequence of events with her operatives.

She winced but 'tsked' when Vodka was knocked out by Shinichi and clenched her fists in anger when she heard the cops move in to arrest Gin.

When she realized that Gin had allowed himself to be taken easily, she nearly headed off to the area they were to kill him herself.

'That DAMNED man wants me to suffer! He wants me to be eliminated from the syndicate!' she thought furiously.

Moving to the driver's seat, she decided to disregard the fact that Sherry was arriving to an empty house. Putting on the mask she drove off the spot she was to leave the truck. Getting in her own car and disrobed of her disguise, she slouched on the steering wheel. Vermouth drove back to her high-rise apartment while shaking off her stupor.

She entered her apartment and headed for the bedroom. Vermouth stopped walking and adopted a confident posture for the person seated in the vanity chair.

"Hello, Cognac," she greeted the other syndicate operative.

"I suppose you want to explain why you have failed?"

Unfazed, Vermouth walked to her closet where she grabbed a bathrobe and put it on, "Hardly."

Cognac raised a gun with a silencer up at Vermouth, "You know the punishment of failure." Cognac began to pull the trigger.

At moment, Vermouth, threw out a flash-bomb. Chaos erupted in the apartment as Vermouth wrestled Cognac for the gun. The room filled with smoke as the flash-bomb caught the carpeting on fire.

After a few minutes, the winner picked up the gun, ignoring the unconscious woman on the floor. She positioned the other woman's body so that the growing fire would destroy any evidence.

She headed out the door and fled with the rest of the building's residences.

-------------------

Haibara was sitting at her desk, as usual, after a day at school. The house was completely silent. She sat with her elbow resting on the desk while holding up her head. In the other hand, she gently rocked a test tube filled with a viscous milky liquid. Her face was graced with a thoughtful expression.

She wondered, 'Should I take it? Kudo-kun seems happy with his return but what do I have to come back to? My sister is dead and the organization wants me dead. I know I said I was making an antidote so we both could return to our bodies but do I really want to?'

A cheerful voice echoed down the stairs, "Ai-chan, are you ready?"

Haibara put the test tube back in the rack after placing stopper in it. As she placed it in a locking cabinet, she yelled up to Ayumi, "I'll be up in a moment."

Haibara trotted to the stairs but paused a moment to look back at the locked cabinet. She gave herself a smirk while thinking, 'I don't have to decide now, it'll still be there tomorrow.'

That evening, Haibara walked back into the house to get some supper. She was startled to see Shinichi seated at the kitchen table staring off into space as he thought.

He blinked and looked at her, "Hey, Haibara, what's up?"

She stared at him, giving him a measured look. She went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of cold water. Shinichi's eyes casually followed her.

Looking at him, she stated, "That's not an idle question."

"Maybe, maybe not."

Resisting the urge to glare, she sat down at the table and leveled a steady gaze at him, "What do you want to know?"

"Well…I was wondering if you ever actually intended to take the antidote yourself. I mean, you said you were making it so that we could both return to our real bodies but you haven't yet."

Sighing, Haibara looked out the window, "I'm afraid that I'm still a target."

"That's a good reason. After all, Gin and Vodka tried to kill me not too long ago…but they're dead."

"Hmmm."

Shinichi leaned his chair back so that it was balancing on the back legs. "I don't know if you want to know what I think…but I'm going to tell you anyways," he said with a smirk.

Haibara turned her head, so that she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I really did wonder if you even planned to take the antidote yourself," he said, measuring his words. The two people did not speak for the next few minutes.

Shinichi leaned back further in his chair, waiting for an answer. Haibara had focused her gaze out of the window again.

Haibara broke the silence, "I originally was planning to take the antidote myself. However, a lot of things have change. Changing back would not bring my sister back." She fell silent again, thinking about how to put into words what she had been feeling. "I have things now that I can't remember having before. And I have friends, even if their maturity level is far below my own, I am happy to be around them. I know I can trust some people now. I don't have to live in fear of failing at a project. There is not much for me to go back to if I take the antidote."

She looked surprised at the conclusion she arrived at, "I don't want to take the antidote. I'm happier now than I can remember being in a long time."

Shinichi gave her a wiry smile, "I think that you _should_ take the second chance at a childhood. You didn't have much of one to begin with and now you can have a proper one."

"That's another reason. But I wonder if Agasa would mind me living with him for the next eight or ten years?"

Chuckling, Shinichi replied, "I think he likes having you around. Kind of like a surrogate daughter or an assistant or something."

The glare Haibara shot at Shinichi looked very out of place on her youthful face.

-------------------

Ran stood over the stove, cooking dinner for her mother who was staying at the hospital for extended visits. Sonoko stood by her side still wondering if Eri and Kogoro were headed towards a true reconciliation in their estranged marriage.

Smiling happily while checking the cooking vegetables, Ran was murmured about weddings and when the best time was to have one.

Sonoko perked up at the word 'wedding.' She turned to Ran and asked curiously, "Who's having a wedding?"

Ran tensed up at her slight slip. She laughed nervously and replied, "Uh…uh…no one."

"Awww, come on, I want to know. I know it can't be between your parents because they're already married (1)," pestered Sonoko.

Ran refrained from rounding on Sonoko, and instead, turned to her and calmly said, "I was just wondering. You know…a hypothetical situation." Ran got an idea and slyly said to her friend, "For all you know, I could be thinking about a wedding between you and Makoto."

Sonoko blushed at the thought of marrying her boyfriend but humphed, "Marry him? He's never around for me to date even. Always off at karate tournaments and only calling when he's won!"

Ran gave her friend a sly grin, "But he still worries if you are dressed right for the weather and how you are doing."

"Sure, whatever," Sonoko said dismissively but still had a slight blush on her face.

Ran turned towards Sonoko and held up the completed meal, "Ready to go see my mom and dad?"

"Sure," Sonoko replied, though she was really thinking, 'I'm not sticking around if they are going to do nothing but argue.'

On the ride to the hospital, they chatted about school and about how much they missed their English teacher, who left due to some interesting circumstances. As the bus neared the hospital, the two of them fell into companionable silence, occasionally punctuating it with a comment that the other picked right up on.

However, Sonoko's subconscious was still mulling over the wedding comment made by Ran earlier. Ran noticed that her friend was a little fidgety but attributed it to the fact that it was not usually comfortable being in the same room with Kogoro and Eri at the same time.

During and after the elevator ride up, Sonoko became aware of her train of thought. When they were only a dozen feet from the open door of Kogoro's hospital room, she blurted out, "You weren't thinking about me getting married or any of our friends, you were thinking about you and Shinichi!" Sonoko whipped around to face her friend, "Shinichi proposed to you?"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh," Ran motioned for Sonoko to keep her voice down.

A tremendous roar echoed down the sterile halls, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Ran smacked her hand to her face in exasperation. She reflected, I'm thankful Shinichi isn't here. Maybe I should tell him to join his parents in the U.S. for safety until I can get Dad to calm down.

Sonoko covered her mouth, realizing that she had just let the cat out of the bag. It was going to be a very interesting afternoon.

Ran took a deep bracing breath and walked into her father's room. She saw that Eri was restraining Kogoro as he tried to break free of the equipment supporting his back. Kogoro was almost frothing at the mouth and Eri herself was wearing a grim expression.

Calmly, Ran sat in one of the unoccupied chairs. Sonoko followed unobtrusively and sat next to her. They both had to smile at the picture Kogoro and Eri made at that moment. Ran quickly removed her smile as she prepared to explain things to her parents.

"Dad, I don't think it's fair to me if you go off and kill Shinichi," Ran sighed. "I think that there's been enough death and near death recently," she quietly spoke. "Do you think I would let him do anything if I didn't want to?"

Kogoro relaxed, his shoulders sagging, "You really feel that way about that boy?"

"Yes, Dad. I'm still upset at him for being away for so long but I'm going support him and stand by him. With you being hurt and Shinichi being shot at...well…I don't want to regret anything because I didn't say something or do something."

Eri spoke soothingly, "He..no, we just don't want to see you get hurt."

Ran smiled confidently, "That's a risk I've decided I'm going to take." Ran raised her hand to forestall her parents from speaking for a moment more. "We don't plan to marry right away. I know I'd like to wait a while and Shinichi doesn't push the issue. I think he just wanted to make sure I knew how serious he is."

Kogoro opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. After a moment, he decided on what he was going to say, "I think I understand what you are getting at and I'll give him a chance. But I still want to talk to him…civilly," he added when he saw that Eri was going to make a comment.

Sonoko still sat, usually quiet, as she watched the drama unfold in front of her. She marveled at the control that Kogoro was showing and the firmness in which Ran was handling the situation.

She pondered, 'I wonder if Ran can forgive me for blurting out about her getting engaged?'

Noticing that Ran had wrapped up her little speech and was getting ready to leave, Sonoko said goodbye to Kogoro and Eri. They both looked startled that she was there. They had been so wrapped in the news that they had failed to notice her surprisingly quiet presence.

Sonoko, feeling very embarrassed, scurried out of the room. She stopped to wait for Ran. When Ran came out, she scuffed her feet on the floor.

"Um, Ran? I'm sorry for blurting out about your engagement."

Ran gave Sonoko an 'all is forgiven smile,' "It was bound to happen sooner or later. At least now, Dad will have a few days to think about things before Shinichi is going to have to face the music."

Her expression became more serious, "But I don't want to hear a word of it at school."

Sonoko sighed in relief, "Thank goodness! I promise not to breathe a word of it to anyone…except you and Shinichi, until you say I can!" Then she leaned in an elbowed Ran gently in the side, "You want to go look at wedding dresses?"

"Sonoko!"

-------------------

The man, who had led the video conference and ordered the elimination of Shinichi, sat back in his leather office chair. He held some papers reporting the failure of Gin and Vodka and the removal of Vermouth from the syndicate.

He let out an exasperated sigh and turned to his secretary, "I would like to believe that those operatives messed up. But from the reports it appears that they did almost everything right. Though, I am puzzled as to why Gin allowed himself to be apprehended so easily."

"Yes, sir."

He put the reports down on the desk and turned his chair so he was facing out the window. Drumming his fingers on the armrest, he considered his orders and options. Signally to his secretary to start taking notes, he began a new set of orders, "Instead of shutting down the Japanese operations, I'd like to suspend them in the Tokyo area and move the rest away from the major cities. Focus our efforts on a…smaller clientele. This plan will go until the agents in the government and police say that the trail is too cold for the governmental dogs."

He signaled for the secretary to stop taking notes. Turning back to his desk, he asked, "How does the situation in Japan look?"

"The authorities are looking but there is very little information to go on, since people who know any information are in hiding and the bodies have gone missing from the police morgue. They only know a few isolated bits of information. Highly doubtful that they will be able to do much with the information." The secretary paused a moment and added, "Cognac apologizes for the unorthodox method of killing Vermouth but she decided to take advantage of the resulting fire."

"Thank you for that information. I believe that will be all for the moment."

"Yes, sir."

-------------------

Shinichi sat in his father's study/library, glaring at the Osaka detective that was snickering at him.

"Would you just can it, Hattori?" Shinichi almost snarled.

This request only caused Heiji to double over and laugh harder. At a few minutes he calmed down enough to speak, "So, Sonoko whipped out a wedding dress catalogue in the middle of homeroom to help Ran choose a dress and the whole school put it together that you two are engaged?"

Shinichi grumbled, "Unfortunately."

Still chuckling, Heiji shook his head in disbelief, "I'm surprised she's still around to be thorn in your side. I would've thought you'd've have gotten her for that."

"Well…it did cross my mind," admitted Shinichi, but then he thought, 'It was more like Ran stopped me.'

Heiji cocked his he in puzzlement, "But what I can't figure is how come you aren't having any problem with school. You've missed what? A year?"

Shinichi smirked, "Let's just say that it is a good thing that Ran brings her books and assignments home from school. That and that she isn't in all the time."

"So, you kept up by following what was going on in her books? Clever idea," conceded Heiji.

The two young adults sat in silence for a few moments before Heiji asked, "What do you think of the death of Chris Vineyard?"

Shinichi's face took on a more focused look as he slipped into detective mode, "Sounds like someone was not happy with her performance. But still…something bothers me. The police didn't make a positive i.d. on the body. Of course, it wasn't helped by having burning fragments of ceiling crushing the body and skull beyond recognition."

Heiji looked thoughtful, "You think it might've been someone else and she's still alive?"

"It's a possibility."

"Hmmmmm. Well, look on the bright side…you didn't have to tell Neechan about being Conan and all…and you didn't get killed by her father for proposing to her."

"Ha ha, very funny, Hattori," Shinichi exasperatingly replied. A devilish grin appeared on his face, "How about I tell Kazuha that you are seeing someone?"

Heiji jumped up and bared his fist, "I'd like to see you try, Kudo!"

Interrupting Heiji's triad, Shinichi asked, "Hattori? When do you think we'll see anything from that organization?"

Heiji looked startled, and then a thoughtful expression grew on his face, "They aren't gone and the police probably won't find them." He turned to Shinichi, "You're right! We will see them again. But I don't know when."

Shinichi stood up and went up to Heiji, "Well, then, we'll just have to be ready for them. Want to help?"

Smirking, Heiji replied, "Help bring down an international crime syndicate? I'd love to!"

Just then, Shinichi and Heiji heard Ran and Kazuha call up that they were going to leave without them.

Shinichi shook his head but headed to the door, "We can deal with that another day. Let's go and enjoy the day with our girlfriends."

Heiji agreed but corrected Shinichi, "Who said Kazuha was my girlfriend?"

Shinichi tossed back, "Actions speak louder than words!"

Heiji stood in the room with a clueless expression on his face.

_The End_

* * *

(1) Ran's parents are _separated_, not divorced. Ran's mother kept her name, Kisaki, when she married Kogoro.

Yes, this is the end of _this_ story. I don't have any plans to continue it now but there is certainly the opportunity to (as I may, but not for a while, this semester of college is going to be a killer).

I set out to write a story about Shinichi's return without doing certain things that many fanfic authors like to do. I have noticed with them that 1.) Ran finds out Conan and Shinichi are one in the same, 2.) Shinichi seems to bring down the black org/connection single-handily or with the help of Heiji and/or Kid, 3.) Ran finds out Conan and Shinichi are the same person (She doesn't need to know! Ignorance is bliss!), 4.) Kaitou Kid shows up, and the one I am guilty of, 5.) Haibara discovers a cure. I'm not saying that these bad things but that they are among some of the most common events. Also, I wanted to write a long story (for me).

I don't know if anybody cares but what helped me write this story was the fact that I wrote out a short summary for each chapter, so that if I got writer's block I could look back at my notes and see what I wanted to do. I also wrote nine chapters before I even posted the first, so that gave me a head start.

When writing a story it helps to write out a summary and to know where you want the story to go. I've read too many fanfics that starts off great and then the author stops writing because they ran out of ideas. And if you get writer's block, write something, anything. It will stimulate your creative brain cells and you should find it easier to write again. To mess with the old adage: Writing begets writing.

There are still a lot of problems with this story and one day I intend to go back and revise it. Haibara is a little too cheerful and there are problems with how Gin gives up but I'm still happy I wrote this story and I'm happy that people saw fit to give advice on how to improve it. I know my writing has gotten better since I started this story and that was part of the reason why I started writing it.

Many thanks to all those that left reviews!

Posted: 9-11-04 (Remembering why the US now is becoming the world's watchdog.)


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